Alienated
by Punzie the Platypus
Summary: There's the question: "What's beyond the fence?" An answer could be THE HUNGER GAMES. But what if, instead, beyond the fence of Chicago is the world taken over by the souls? Starts RIGHT at the ending of Insurgent. Tris, Tobias, and their friends escape from Evelyn and her factionless members and go beyond the fence only to find they're some of the only humans left.
1. Factionless

**Thank You, God, for everything.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Divergent or The Host. Now, this is a really big (MY 100TH ONE. KIND OF. Three were taken done BUT AT THE MOMENT IT'S 1OO) story that I've been working on for almost two months. It's FULLY COMPLETED, so I can post a chapter at any time. **

**This came along as follows: there's the usual fandoms crossing over with other fandoms: "What if outside the fence [of Divergent], it's the Hunger Games?" *GASPS* *FREAKS OUT* but I thought, what if outside the fence, it was the Soul world? He he he he. :)  
**

**~ Tris's point of view for entire story ~ **

The yells around me are loud. Harsh. Accusatory. Worried. Angry. Someone starts to cry. The Erudite and Dauntless and Amity don't dare move around. The factionless have guns, but that doesn't stop them from crying out, wondering what happened.

I don't say a word. I am too stunned to say anything. Tobias beside me, one of his long hands set around my waist, doesn't say a word. He looks around the room instead. His drawn face looks thoughtful, and set and stern. He's thinking about something.

I have no idea who this Amanda Ritter, or Edith Prior, I suppose she wanted to be called, is. My parents had never told me of my grandparents. My father was from Erudite. My mother was from Dauntless. That means that Edith Prior was probably from one of those factions.

Or maybe she had been among the factionless. But if she was such an important person (making this video to give us crucial, important information proves this), she was probably one of their leaders. At least in one of the factions.

I look up, startled, when a shot rings through the air. We all look to the center of the room. Evelyn stands on a table. A gun is in her hand, pointed towards the ceiling. Plaster rains slowly down on her from the bullet hole.

"Everyone remain quiet," she says. She looks to Tori, who holds onto her injured leg. "You. Get the rest of your Dauntless leaders. We're going upstairs. Hurry up."

I instantly wonder what she's going to do, but no one will tell me. No point in asking her. Harrison stands forward. Tori sighs.

Tobias turns around to me, putting his hand against my cheek. He looks resolute, but I can see worry in his eyes. "I'll be back in a bit," he says quietly. He gives me a quick kiss on the lips and then lets me go. I feel the ghost of his lips against mine as he follows the other Dauntless leaders and Evelyn, who takes a couple of the factionless with her so she won't be overpowered.

They disappear up the stairs. Everyone else looks at one another. Therese looks around and turns to me, saying, though not to me, "Greg, Danny. Guard her."

I'm now a war criminal, though, as Tobias has told me, I have done nothing worth being tried for. I try to protest, but Therese cocks her gun and glares at me. She does not want me to resist. Her gun gives me that answer.

Everyone sits still. Except Christina. She stubbornly stands up, despite her leg injury, and starts to walk over to me.

"Hey!" Therese says, pointing the gun at her. My heart leaps into my throat. "Sit back down."

"Am I not allowed to talk to my best friend?" Christina says defiantly, raising an eyebrow.

"If you're going to discuss escape tactics, yes," Therese says.

"How about inquiring about her injury? She was shot a few weeks ago," Christina says. "It still bothers her."

Christina won't lie. She's got that honesty from Candor installed into her bones.

"She's from Candor. She's honest. She's telling the truth," I say. I don't know if her being from Candor is going to calm Therese, who doesn't like the factions at all. Still, she knows the attributes of an ex-Candor faction member, and she doesn't care about faction before blood. She cares more about no factions and possibly some blood, if it makes the factions cooperate with Evelyn's plan.

Therese, while still not looking happy, relents. Christina takes a seat next to me, and we stare at the blank screens where the video had been broadcasted. The images are gone now. I'm glad. Despite all the blood I've seen, from Edward's eye to my mother getting blasted in front of my eyes to Eric getting a shot to the head fired by Tobias, it disturbs me. How there was killing like that without just cause. It's sickening.

"How's your arm?" Christina asks.

"Fine. How's your leg?" I say. I need to distract myself and my mind from wandering up the stairs where Tobias is, with only Harrison and a wounded Tori to keep him from the hands of the factionless. Still, he's as protected as Christina, Caleb and I are. I see Caleb across the room, on the other side near the door. He looks nervous, sweat on his forehead. The video must have scared him. It should.

Christina shifts next to me, touching her bandage with her hand limply. "You know, despite their killing and superior air, the Erudite are smart. They bandaged it all right. The doctor said it should be fine. Unless she lied."

I smile. "Not everyone can be Candor."

"Not even you," she says, her voice quiet.

A still silence falls over the room. All of us, even the factionless, wait for the leaders to come back down the stairs. The guards around the doors shift uneasily. Several people leaning against the wall slump to the floor. Uriah hiccups as a sheet is provided to cover Lynn's body. Cara looks around the floor, muttering something under her breath.

I wipe my sweaty hands against my pants. It's warm in here, with all the bodies.

An hour must pass. Then there's incoming footsteps. A dozen or so of them. We all look toward the stairs. My heart pounds as I hurriedly search for a look, a glimpse, of Tobias.

His chrome-touched sneakers are the first I see. His body comes into sight within a second, his face expressionless, his hands in fists.

Behind him comes the rest of the leaders. Tori looks angry. Evelyn looks calm and cool as she addresses the populace once she's in the middle of the room again. "Tomorrow, we will have a mass burial. A bonfire."

A sob catches in Uriah's throat. My mouth feels dry. My tongue is papery. I rub it against my teeth and accidentally bite it. More pain fills me.

Evelyn ignores the groans. "Then, myself and several of the factionless are taking cars and heading out to the fence. The rest of the factionless will stay here and guard the traitors, who is everyone who was not an original factionless member." Her eyes catch mine. Cold. Not as cold as Marcus's, though. "Once an assessment of beyond the fence is established, we'll go in groups beyond it. Punishment will be dealt. All will attend the funeral. The war criminals will be guarded."

Me. Does that mean Tobias? Surely not her own son. But then Evelyn was never a very maternal mother to him. Still, he wasn't a criminal. That means I'll be always guarded. Like in the Erudite room I had.

I shiver.

Her steady gaze calms down the murmurs of agreement and protest. "In the meantime, Therese, send people to the supply closets." Evelyn's eyes take in the entire foyer. "We're going to use this as a bedroom."

It's to my surprise when Tobias steps over to Zeke when Evelyn calls for everyone to start moving about. I watch him as he whispers something in Zeke's ear, making him nod.

Blankets are found and handed out. A guard comes to me and Christina, who stares back resolutely, her eyes showing no fear.

"You're coming with me," the guard, a man with long hair in a ponytail and a pistol in his hand, says.

"No, she's not." Tobias comes up behind him. He doesn't look at me as the guard stares at him. Tobias says, his voice steady, almost reminding me of Four, "Evelyn says she can stay with me. There's enough guards around here to keep us both in line."

The guard sniffs, but agrees when behind Tobias Evelyn gives him a nod. I guess being an Eaton _does_ have its advantages.

The night is young but dark, and everyone just wants to fall asleep. I do, anyway. To fall asleep and pretend that all this is a nightmare, that there never was a video, Lynn never died, Marlene never died, my parents never died. That I'm back in the Dauntless compound with Tobias and there's no war going on.

Tobias gets blankets and picks a spot near one of the floor length windows. He pats the floor next to him. I drop on my knees, and he reaches a hand out and holds me to him, saying, "Let's just try to get some sleep, okay?"

I gulp. "Okay."

We lay next to each other, the two blankets twisted and tangled over us. My small back fits against the curve of his stomach, our legs stacked on top of each other. I can hear his breathing, not quite normal and smooth, near my ear. The lights go out. After a moment, I can feel his hand threading through my short blonde hair. Nobody can see us now.

"We'll figure this out," he whispers.

"What do you think is beyond the fence?" I say as quietly as I can.

"I don't know." A moment passes. "Maybe there'll be the destruction like on that video. Maybe the world's changed for the better. We can hope, right?"

I highly doubt it will have changed. It may have, but how can a world that went down so low, that had fallen so far, change? And yet our factions are now divided and broken, with blood and death and murder. How are we different from them?

At the moment, I don't know which one of the two worlds I should want to live in.

The tender touch brushing against my neck tells me the answer. The one with Tobias in it.

* * *

I wake up in the middle of the night. I feel cold. Tobias isn't next to me. I turn and paw the ground, trying to find him. I fill with fear as I look out over the lobby, trying to locate him. I see his form in a rectangle of white moonlight. He's talking to Zeke.

Instantly I want to know what he's talking with him about. I get my answer soon enough when Tobias glances over to our sleeping area and sees me sitting up. He turns back to Zeke for a second, then comes over to me.

"What are you two talking about?" I say. I don't want him conspiring without me.

He lays down to face me now, our faces inches apart. After today and especially after the past few weeks, I don't want him lying to me anymore, or withholding information from me. I want him to trust me.

"You should know, I was going to tell you. I just had to set the wheels in motion first," he says, his voice low.

"We're getting out," I say.

"Yes. But they've hidden the cars. We need them to get out. Tomorrow Dauntless and Abnegation are going to break out and fight against the factionless."

"They're defenseless," I say quickly.

Tobias smiles. "Being quick and Dauntless helps us, Tris."

"And the cars," I say.

"We're escaping. Out of the city. Away from them where they'll lock us away or kill us for not joining them," he whispers. "Away from the factions."

"Into the wild?" I say. My hand lays against the cold floor. I concentrate on the cold instead of the horrors of the images in my mind. It reminds me of the days after going through my fearscape, when I had to hide the terrifying things of my mind that I got from the effects of the serum.

His face crinkles slightly. His smile looks teasing and reassuring at the same time.

"It's that or here, isn't it?" he says. "So, just be alert when we do the funeral tomorrow. I'll make the first move and come for you. You listen to what I tell you to do, and actually do it, okay?"

I have the tendency to do the exact opposite of what he wants me to do. Still, I nod. He nods as well and says, brushing a bit of hair out of my face, "In the meantime, get some sleep. There's going to be a lot of running tomorrow."

**I know there is not Host in here yet, BUT THERE WILL BE, I SOLEMNLY SWEAR. AND WONDERFUL, FEELING FOURTRIS FLUFF, TOO. D'AWWWW. Thanks for reading, y'all! God bless you!**


	2. GET AWAY FROM THEM SOULS

**Thank You, God, for everything.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own The Host or Divergent. I SAW THE HOST IN THE THEATER TODAY AND MY FEELINGS, MAN. It was a bit slow, but ME GUSTA. :)**

It's cool out. Not very cold, but not warm. It's still summer. Fall's not coming for a while, with its cool winds and scattered leaves from the occasional tree seen along the streets.

I stand between two factionless members, each armed. Christina is in the same situation. We stand outside the Erudite building along with the rest of the survivors of the attack yesterday. Opposite us, on the other side of the street, is a fire. Roaring high, its flames licking the air, fueled by the blood and bodies of the dead. The smell of cooking flesh fills the air. I try not to gag at the stench.

Guards surround the semi-circles on either side of the street. Evelyn stands with factionless members with blood on their hands from feeding the fire. Johanna says a prayer over the dead, but I can't hear it. The flames are too loud.

Tobias and Caleb are closer to the fire. I'm next to the door, a prisoner. Christina barely holds herself up with her leg, a grim look on her ashen face.

Johanna stops speaking. I see something out of the corner of my eye, and turn my head to see a line of cars coming down the street. They stop between us and the fire.

Evelyn and a number of factionless members go to open the car doors. I can see in my range of vision someone moving, quickly. A punching noise and a slight UMPH! later, Tobias comes hurrying up to me and sinks the butt of his newly acquired gun in one of my guards' faces. I hear someone shout and another person darts near the fire.

Someone shoots but hits the window near us instead. Tobias takes out the other guard, and looking to me, says, "Take the guns. NOW."

I immediately bend and grab them from the two knocked out guards' bodies. They feel cool. They send a shiver of fear through my body, and I try to ignore it as I turn to Christina and toss her one. She catches it and cocks it and hurries to me.

"What's the plan?" she says over the noise. Fighting has broken out on both sides of the street.

I don't know the rest of the plan. The only person I really trust is Tobias, and he told me to do what he says for me to do. I look around for him, trying to catch a glimpse of him.

A guard comes toward us and Christina immediately aims and hits him in the shin. A direct hit. He stumbles.

I catch sight of Tobias. He's holding a gun to his own mother, stepping carefully backward to the first car in line. He sees me and shouts, "To the front one, Tris!"

I know immediately that he's talking about the car. I grab Christina's arm roughly and try to forget that she has a wounded leg as I hurry to the first car in the line that stretches on.

I shove the gun into my waistline so I can wrench open the back seat's door. It opens, surprisingly, and there's a shot and Christina hurries into the car. I straighten and see Uriah opening the driver's door and dragging out one of the factionless members. A gun hangs from where he has hastily shoved it into his belt.

"Where's Tobias?" he says, quickly looking to me.

"He's with Evelyn," I say.

"Okay. Get in," Uriah says, looking anxiously over his shoulder.

My jaw sets. "We're not leaving without him."

"I know. Get in. We're not leaving unless he can't escape, now get in, Tris!"

I get into the car and settle next to Christina, but before I can close the door behind me, Lauren blocks my view. Closing the door behind her, she bunches myself and Christina together as she leans forward and says, "Where's Zeke?"

"He's coming," Uriah says excitedly. "Open the door, Christina!"

Christina fumbles the door open next to her, and Zeke hurries in, practically throwing himself into the backseat behind us.

"Okay, we just need Tobias," Uriah says.

A thought hits me. My brother. Even though Caleb did abandon us and join Jeanine, a place in my heart still wants him with me. "What about my brother?" I say as Christina and Lauren shift around the seat.

"A traitor. Wasn't worth warning him of this," Uriah says.

I scowl but then Tobias comes practically flying into the passenger's seat. He says, "Uriah, move it. We need to get out of here."

"Okay," and Uriah starts the car and then presses on something and we instantly jolt to a stop. He tries again and my head bonks Christina, who says, "Can't you drive?"

"Practically no one knows how to drive," Uriah says. It's the Dauntless in him that leads him to just try it without actually knowing how to. "Only the leaders and those with their jobs of delivering."

I sit up straighter. Letting out a deep breath, "I saw Marcus drive. Maybe I can try."

"You need to hurry," Zeke says.

Uriah and I quickly change seats. The chair is warm. My hands go to the steering wheel. It feels solid under my hands. That worries me. I saw Marcus spinning it around as he drove myself and Christina to Amity.

I look down and see two slightly heightened pieces of plastic. I step on one. It does nothing. I look up and see a lever. Marcus pushed it. I push it back, and then turn back to the plastic pieces. Pressing on one with my foot, the car doesn't move. Someone lets out an impatient sound. Uriah impatiently taps against the window.

I can feel Tobias's impatience from here, and I bite my lip when he says, "You don't know how to work it, do you?"

Before I can say a word, he cocks his gun and hurries out the door. I grasp the back of the driver's seat and nearly scream for him to come back, but he won't listen to me. He's out to get something, someone. Who?

And it hits me a few seconds later when there are gunshots in the Erudite building. My jaw nearly drops in astonishment when I see Marcus, his son holding a gun to his back, walking clumsily over to our car. His face looks ashen. Tobias's face looks sweaty, but cold.

Marcus opens the driver's door and looks at me with steely eyes. Zeke calls from the back, "What the hell are you doing, Tobias?"

"Tris, move," Tobias says. "Marcus is the only one who knows how to drive."

I don't want to move. I don't want Marcus to join us here, in this car, in this escape, but we have no choice. We need to leave now, no time for arguing. Tobias's set voice tells me that.

I scramble to the backseat and get sandwiched between Uriah and Christina. I feel small and squeezed on all sides as Marcus gets into the driver's seat. Tobias hurries around the front of the car and before Marcus can put his hands on the steering wheel, Tobias closes his door and turns to stick the gun against the side of his father's head.

"Do what I say, or I swear I will blow your brains out," Tobias says quietly.

"Where are we going?" Marcus asks. His voice sounds too calm.

"The fence. Now. Don't try anything."

Marcus doesn't say anything but quickly takes us down the street. Tobias's hand wavers ever-so-slightly as he holds his arm out, but his expression stays steady. He looks like Four now, not my calm, tender Tobias. But he can't appear weak in front of his father. He won't let himself.

Uriah, Christina, Zeke, Lauren, and I all turn to look out the windows. The city passes away from us. In the distance, the fighting doesn't cease. I can't help but wonder what the Amity who are present there are doing. They might be killed. It startles me to think of Johanna Reyes being killed. I wonder if she fought before. Her scar should be indicative of her past life. She never said anything about her life in Candor, though.

I can't help but think of Caleb. What has happened to him. What will happen to him. Will he be killed for being a war criminal? Will he survive the initial fighting happening now? Will he stay alive?

I turn back in my seat. The first one to do so.

I shouldn't care. I don't want to. I'm too mad at him.

The heat in the stuffed car is stifling. I wipe my hands against my pants, leaving faint traces of sweat.

We travel past the rails of the trains. I wonder if the outside world has trains that you can jump from. I'm not sure. I hope they do. I feel like falling, feeling the wind from the rails, landing on my feet, balanced and safe on the ground. Despite being surrounded by friends on all sides and having guns with us, I feel vulnerable.

The fence comes up. Tobias urges Marcus out so that he won't just drive us back to the city. The two head to the fence. Tobias keeps his gun on Marcus as he inputs the special code, knowing it, having worked at the computers at the Dauntless compound. He presses the door back with the palm of his hand, and keeping an eye on Marcus, makes him help him open the two large sections of the gate. They skid so they're parallel with the car. Up ahead of us is the pavement road, disappearing into a dirt one.

This will be the first time any of us from our city has left since the factions were formed. A lump forms in my throat. My hands grasp my pants, needing something to hold and squeeze. Tobias's hand is too far away as he takes his seat again. His dark blue eyes glare at Marcus as he starts the car.

We pass through the gate. Christina whispers something under her breath.

We travel down the dirt road. Uriah and Christina and Zeke crane against the windows. Try to catch a glimpse. I look through the windshield. Nothing is new except for the dust path ahead of it. There are dilapidated fields around us covered in weeds. The sky looks less murky, though. More blue. It makes me feel a bit hopeful.

I lean forward, and Zeke swears when we see a dark gray shadow ahead of us.

"A city," Marcus says.

Tobias doesn't say a word.

"Do you think there'll be people?" Christina says.

"Probably. There's got to be some," Uriah says.

Murderous ones, most likely. I don't have high expectations for the people we might find. There will be people. We can't be the only ones left on Earth.

We pass through a road into the city, inching forward as Marcus slows the car. Tobias turns from his father, though the gun still at ready, and looks out the window. The city is well built, not dilapidated like our own. The skyscrapers are big. The buildings are intact. The streets are clean.

Uriah dares to open his window. I lean against him to look out. The air is clean. It's early, but there's people walking around. Some are picking up garbage, a job the factionless would have done, back when things weren't tossed away to hell. I let out a breath.

There's no blood. I notice that. There's no bodies laying around. Everything is clean and tidy. I look to Tobias. I say his name.

"Yes?" he says, looking to me.

"Do we want to get out? We have guns," I remind him. I don't want to use my gun, though. The thought of Will's slumping body fills my mind, but I gulp it back. We may need to use them against these people.

Tobias nods after a moment. Turning back to Marcus, he plants the gun against his head again. "Find a parking spot."

Marcus turns the car between two white lines in a pavement rectangle off of the road. There's other cars in the spots around us. People are moving around relatively like we are.

"Should we all get out?" Uriah asks.

"I'm not staying in here," Christina and Zeke say, and we all pile out of the car. Christina bumps the gun at my hip. I feel the weight of it against me as I put my hand to it. I will have to use it. I know. It makes me fearful and relieved at the same time.

Tobias takes his gun away from Marcus's head and slips the key from the car into his pocket. Even if Marcus tries to run, he won't get the car. Tobias holds the gun to him to shoot when ready, and then says, "C'mon."

We step out. I can already tell that everyone has their minds on their guns. We're all worried. Still, I'm surprised. There's no blood or murder on the streets. Things seem so calm. Too calm.

I step next to Tobias. "What do you think?" he asks.

"It's calm," I say.

"It's strange," he says back. He looks from the left to the right. There are cars on the road that are passing peacefully.

Someone comes around to the parking lot front where we are. A man with tan skin and black hair. He must be getting his car but he notices us, looks straight at us. I let out a gasp. There's something with his eyes. They're rimmed with silver-blue. They are not natural eyes.

I stop walking, and Tobias turns back to me. "What is it?" His voice sounds kind. Almost worried.

"That man," I say, and I point to the man. He walks towards us now; I step back. "His eyes, Tobias. Look at his eyes."

Tobias looks to the man. He doesn't look surprised, though I know he is inwardly. The man walks closer, saying, "Hello."

"Uriah, his eyes," Tobias says, alerting everyone. Christina looks astonished. Uriah pales. Lauren lets out a tiny gasp. Marcus doesn't say anything except, "Yes, can you help us?"

Stupid Marcus. Why is he acting so normal when there is something so wrong with this man?

The man smiled. "I shall take you to the Healers. They can help you."

Marcus shakes his head. "None of us are sick or injured."

"The Healers will help you. Do not worry," the man said. "There is no need to worry."

"I could say otherwise," Christina mutters under her breath. She takes a step back toward me. I step back to Tobias, though, and say under my breath so that my words are only for him, "Tobias. We need to leave."

He nods and our entire body takes a step back.

I feel hands on my shoulders and I turn hurriedly to see a woman with blonde hair and a smile holding onto me. Her eyes are as unnatural as the man's. I feel like screaming. It builds up but stays in my throat.

"We can take you to the Healers," she says pleasantly.

"What do the Healers do?" Tobias says hurriedly. He has a man holding onto him now. All of our party is being held onto.

"They will put a Soul in you," the woman says.

I manage to make out as gruffly as I can, "What's a Soul?"

The woman blinks, but still looks happy. "A Soul. One from my planet. You're to be inserted with a Soul, for you are a Host."

"I'm a human," I say. I have no idea what they mean by a 'Host,' but it sounds like their 'Healers' want to stick aliens into our bodies.

"Call the Seekers," another man, the one holding Zeke, says.

"What's a Seeker?" Tobias demands. He looks angry, his muscles tightening and his face contorted. "What the hell is a Seeker?"

"They're going to come to take you to the Healers; they will Heal you," the woman holding me says.

"Like they Healed you?" Tobias spits.

"Yes," the woman says. Christina curses.

"Like hell," Tobias says, and he wrenches out of the man's grip. The woman holding my shoulders loosens her grip slightly in surprise. I take this surprise to my advantage. I twist out of her grasp and turning to her, aim for her stomach. Tobias told me to use my elbows to my advantage, with my body so small and scrawny. I aim for the upper torso, right above her bellybutton. I get a direct hit, pushing her back.

Someone comes to tower over me, and I reel back to turn to them, my elbow flying into their face. They stumble back and I automatically go for the gun in my waistband.

I spin around with it, watching for a target. Someone is clawing at Tobias. I'm about to shoot when the figure darts away. I realize that it is Marcus.

Someone calls and I turn and shoot one of the Host people off of Zeke, who breathes heavily as the body slumps off of him.

I turn and kick in the stomach a teen coming for me. I shoot him in the shoulder. The feeling of shooting someone feels strange now. These aren't _PEOPLE_ anymore. They're the complete opposite of the murderous humans we saw in the video footage. They're the complete opposite of _US_. They're so pleasant, yet scary. They say they want to help us. As if.

Cars come careening into the parking lot. More of those aliens come out of the cars, their eyes glimmering as they point guns at us.

One of the aliens holding Christina says, relieved, "The Seekers."

"Run!" Tobias yells, and we twist and hurry our way out of the aliens' grip towards the car. I stop mid-step. Uriah curses beside me. Marcus is driving the car out of the parking lot, and we have to leap out of the way. I realize what he was getting when he clawed at Tobias. He was finding the key in his pants pocket.

I look to Tobias, who looks shaken. I've only seen him like that in his fearscape. He curses as well.

"He's leading them into our city. They're going to make them all like that!" Zeke says.

"We've got bigger problems," Tobias says, and we all turn back to where the Seekers are pointing their guns at us. Their eyes gleam. It'd look evil if they didn't look so calm. They look so calm, so methodical, that I'm instantly reminded of Jeanine. She was almost like a robot; not easily excited.

"Run," Tobias says, and we begin to run, shooting after us after the Souls. I hit two women in their foreheads, and I remind myself that they're like the faceless men or anyone in my fearscape. They're simply not real. Not real. Not real. Not real.

We skirt around a building. No one shoots back at us. We enter the building, seeing as there's no alleys to duck into. I've never been in a place where there's no alleys to hide. Especially near Abnegation, there was always alleys. The factionless lived there. Now they can take over all the housing units in our city.

We take the stairs and open the first door that is unlocked. We need a place to hide. I breath heavily as Tobias slams against a door with his shoulder. Uriah fumbles with the knob and we pile in. Christina and I straighten and head in, our guns in front of us, both hands on our guns, just like Tobias showed us. That was a long time ago.

The apartment is empty. I lower my gun, my hands shaking, my thin chest wracked with breaths. The idea of what has just happened hits me, and I slump against a wall. I fall to the ground, my hands collecting in my lap. I try to concentrate on breathing. In. Out. In. Out. Keep my breathing steady.

"What the hell was that?" Uriah says. He walks to one of the floor length windows. Zeke reaches out and pulls him away, saying, "Do you want them to find us? Stay away from the windows!"

I close my eyes and just feel the wall against my back. My head starts to hurt. I need to calm down. Calming down helps you face your fears. I wonder if I went through my fearscape now what sort of fears I'd have to go through. Maybe those Souls.

"Wait," Zeke says. I open my eyes. He looks fearful. "Where's Lauren?"

I look around quickly. Tobias peeks open the front door with a gun. When he finds no one, he turns back to us and says, "Did anyone see her run with us?"

I shake my head. I didn't even notice that she was gone until Zeke brought her up.

Uriah curses and kicks at a trash can.

"She's being taken to those Healers," Christina says.

Zeke slumps against the wall opposite me, between two bookshelves. Christina sits next to him.

"They're going to make her _THAT_," Uriah spits.

"But what exactly IS _THAT_?" Christina wants to know.

Tobias is silent for a moment. Then: "Those humans have aliens in them. From what that woman said, they're called Souls."

I let out a breath. "And we're called Hosts." It's like we're puppets, and those aliens come in and take over? Is that what they do? They certainly didn't look human.

"Disgusting," Christina says.

"Do you think the human consciousness is still in the bodies?" Zeke says.

Tobias shakes his head. "Did they act human to any of us at all?" He lets out a sigh and takes a seat next to me. He brings his knees to himself and folds his arms and puts them around them. His gun is on its side, his finger ready to slip to the trigger at any second. He shivers, like he's experiencing a fear, and I know he's thinking of Marcus. How he had touched him to get the key. It probably triggered bad memories for him.

He sighs and looks to the staring faces, though, like he doesn't want to have us see him be weak. I've seen him weak and vulnerable before, but he doesn't want to appear so in front of the others.

"The aliens, somehow inserted into the human Hosts, have taken over their bodies. Obviously," he wipes at his forehead, "they've taken over their minds. Despite their trying to take us in, they seem milder than us."

"So much for the blood-lustful world we thought we were getting into," Christina says.

This makes me think of how much blood I've seen in the past months. How much blood I've shed, how much blood I have on my hands. Tobias has blood on his hands. Everyone in this room does.

"It's almost like we're the blood-lustful city, and those aliens are the ones who have made the world better," I say aloud.

Zeke scoffs. Christina grins and says, "Then I guess the faction leaders' plan for the city backfired on them."

"Or not," Tobias says. That surprises me. He doesn't like the factions. "The factions encased us in a fenced-in city. The Souls never found us. They might have, but they didn't. The factions protected us from becoming inhabited."

"And now Marcus is leading them straight to the city," Zeke says bitterly.

Caleb. Shaun and Hector. Tori. Johanna Reyes. Even Evelyn. They will all be taken over by the Souls. Even if they try to fight them off, they're nothing compared to how many Souls there must be.

"So our city was probably the only uninhabited city?" I whisper.

"More than likely," Tobias says.

I press my lips together. I feel so small. Like we're the only humans left in a taken over world. I have no clue what we're going to do next, and I'm not the only one; Zeke says, "What should we do now?"

"I think we just need to stay put," Tobias says. He looks around the apartment. "Get some rest."

So that's what we do. Uriah decides to be the guard, and Christina falls over onto a couch and falls asleep almost immediately. It's been a long morning, and it's still so early. Zeke finds a spot to fall asleep. I don't move. I just close my eyes and hold my legs to my chest. In and out. In. Out. In. Out.

I feel an arm go around my shoulders. I know who it is. And I'm glad that he's with me. I can feel the trembling coming from him now. Uriah's off looking at the front door. Christina and Zeke are sleeping. There's nobody to notice him except me, and I lean against him for what support I can give him.

"Keep calm," I whisper. I don't know if I say this for him or for me. Maybe the both of us.

His body moves up and then down. He's taking deep breaths, trying to keep calm. Just like what he taught me.

After a minute or two, I feel his lips against my hair. He whispers next to my ear, "Thanks, Tris."

A moment later, I fall asleep.

**DA FOURTRIS, MANNNNNNNN. More Host will come along in this. Thanks for reading! God bless you!**


	3. Surviving and Moving Around

**Thank You, God, for everything.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Divergent or The Host. PLOT AND TWISTS AND YES. **

We spend the next couple of days there. None of us dare to move out of the apartment lest we get discovered. This apartment, while looking inhabited, with all the furniture and a goldfish in the office, doesn't seem to belong to anyone. If it did, the owners are gone. No one comes into the rooms, but we still are on alert. We have a guard up every time we all fall asleep.

I peek out the window my first shift. Everything looks so calm and peaceful out there. There are cars moving on the streets. People - _Souls _walking down the sidewalk. Souls speaking kindly to Souls and helping older Souls cross the street.

That's the strange thing. Everyone is so kind to everyone else. The images of the video flash back into my mind. I try to push them out, but still they remain. This world looks nothing like that, though. This world is so much nicer than the world back in our city, like if everyone took an aptitude test, they'd be Divergent. They'd get Amity and Abnegation.

Is that why those aliens came to this planet? To be nice to everyone? Maybe we were that far gone that we were able to be taken over.

On the third day, I sit next to the window. In a corner of the wall, I scrunch up and make myself small there. My gun in my hand still, I glance out into the world. I don't think I'm visible from the street.

"Tris?" I hear. I turn to see Tobias standing up, stretching. I took my spot as guard at four this morning. It's now nearly eight. He fell asleep early last night. Tired.

"Hey," I say. He crosses the room and takes the spot across from me. He watches out the window for a moment before he looks to me. His dark and murky blue eyes practically pierce me. When he looks at me like that, I feel like he can see right through me. See everything I'm thinking of, know me and look into my soul. It's scary, but also it shows him how vulnerable I am.

"Is there anything different out there?" he asks.

"Than what we've seen?" I shake my head. "Nothing."

A minute passes; he says, "It's strange, isn't it?" He glances out the window.

I furrow my brows. "What is?"

"That an alien race is kinder to each other than the human race is to each other?" Tobias says. His voice is low as to not wake up the rest of our party. He looks back to me and says, "Do you think it was a good thing, to have the Souls take over the human race?"

The Souls were almost like the faction leaders, those who originally made the factions. They were used to protect us from each other. The main idea was to make the world a better place.

It seems that the aliens have done a better job than we have.

I shake my head.

Tobias smiles.

There's a rattling at the door. Like the clinging of keys. Tobias and I instantly get to our feet. My hand shakes around my gun as he hurries forward and sends a push through Uriah, Christina and Zeke by shaking their shoulders.

Tobias positions himself behind the door. I let out a breath. We need a place to escape. I turn and run to the end of the apartment. There's a window. I force it open and look out on the world below. There's a black staircase that goes back and forth along the side of the building. That's awfully convenient.

I turn back when I hear yelling. Through the doors, I can see Uriah and Tobias shooting. Christina darts toward me, turning back and firing carefully as to not hit any of the boys. She just misses the head of a child with silver eyes.

The apartment's family has returned. We can't stay here anymore.

"Christina," I yell. She sees me and hurries over to me. She looks over the window and says, "That'll work."

She turns and yells for the boys. I hook one leg over the window and lower myself onto the black staircase. We're several feet off the ground. I don't care as I let my entire body hit the staircase. I look up to see Christina making her way over. I have confidence that this will be nothing like the last time we went out of windows. There's no controlled faction members to shoot up at us should we slightly slip something off.

I hurry down the rest of the stairs to the bottom of them. Christina runs after me. We gather at the end with a black gate. My empty hand grips the gate. I hear yelling up ahead.

"Are we running from danger?" I whisper.

Christina looks up. "Well, if we are, the boys are joining us. Now, jump!"

I look up. Uriah and Zeke are turning and going back and forth down the stairs to join us. Tobias has blood splattered against his forehead. He looks tentatively down. The idea of facing his fear must hit him, because he ends up putting a leg over the windowsill and falls onto the black staircase.

I turn and look to the ground. Just a few feet away. I climb over the gate and hold on, clutching the sides with my one empty hand. It's like the chasm. Only no water. But still a jump.

I jump and land on my feet.

Christina falls after me. No fear of jumping from her. No water slicking the railing. No long, inevitably murderous fall. Just dark pavement.

Zeke and Uriah join us. I look up. Tobias crouches on the railing, his legs squat. He lets out a breath and falls next to me. He winces slightly, and straightens.

My hand automatically goes to the blood on his face. I let out a breath as my hand falls back, dark red.

"It's not mine," he says.

I gulp.

"Let's get out of here," he says.

"And where are we going?" Christina says. She and Zeke and Uriah look incredulous as they look at Tobias.

Tobias cocks his gun; he's ready in case we meet any more of the Souls. "We're going back to the city."

"How? Are we walking?" I say.

"No. Let's steal a car," Tobias says. He turns and runs around the building, leaving us to run after him, not wanting to leave him alone in a country, a world with Souls that want to replace him with an alien.

"None of us know how to drive," Uriah points out.

"We can figure it out," Tobias says. He lets out a sigh as he leans against the building. I fall next to him, pressing my heavily breathing body against the cold wall. He looks down at me, and I know. He wants answers. He wants to see what happened to the city. He wants to see if the Souls have taken it over. He wants to know if there's hope for it left.

I grip his hand and give it a squeeze. That's what he needs now.

Zeke peeks around the corner and then waves his hands for us to come forward. In front of the apartment is a car. It still has its keys in. The Souls must trust each other enough to think that no one will steal it.

Unfortunately for them, we're not Souls, and we all fall into the car. It fits eight people, and so Uriah, Christina and I have ample room in the backseat while Tobias intently studies the keys. He sees the pieces and sets his feet on them. His eyebrows are furrowed. He had watched Marcus when he had driven. I know it.

He knows every one of Marcus's moves.

Within a minute, he has the car running. His mind is very good with wires and such like this. He had operated the computers at the Dauntless compound. He now sits back and turns the car onto the road.

The roads are surprisingly clear. Must be earlier than we thought. He drives us onto the street, and I let out a sigh of relief once we're outside the city limits.

I settle back in my seat next to Christina. We have a few minutes to wait until we get to our city. I wonder how I should prepare myself to see the entire city taken over. If the Souls can so easily take over Earth, how long will it take them to take over the city?

I watch out the window as the plains and fields pass away from me. They remind me, almost, of the fields the Amity have. Their orchard. A safe haven.

Suddenly, we lurch onto one of the fields. I hold onto the car door and look to Tobias.

"What are you doing?" I say loudly.

"Cars," Uriah says, and I look ahead. On the roadway coming toward where we were is a bunch of cars. They look nothing like the cars we know from our city. They're all different colors and shapes and styles. Colors and shapes and styles from the rest of the world, coming back from our city.

I understand now. We need to stay away from them now.

Tobias takes us around, and we are at the Amity fence. We go parallel to the fence, trying to find a door or entrance to get into.

We find the usual one and hold our breath. We stay nearly half a mile from the rest of the cars as they pile out of our city, full of aliens taking over the planet. More than likely leaving a job well done. I grit my teeth and look at the ground of the car as Tobias moves the car forward. They're probably done with their job, and there is nothing we could do to stop them.

They don't lock the gates behind them. They leave them wide open. Tobias drives through with no problem. He takes us down the dirt road to the Amity compound after brief discussion. We have to see if there's _some_ humans left.

We drive as close as we can bear. Tobias and I volunteer to get out. Christina, Zeke and Uriah stay inside in case we need help. I hope we don't get captured.

Tobias and I make our way around the orchard with little words. All I can hear is my heart pounding and our breathing. I put a hand to my heart and feel it beat against my thin chest. Its skipping reminds me of when I had first felt Tobias's heartbeat. And when he had felt mine.

I realize something. There's barely any noise. Silence.

"Where are they?"

Tobias looks thoughtful, and then he jerks his head. "The meeting room. With that tree."

"You think they're all there?" I ask.

"If there was humans still, they'd be hiding from them. That means they're not in the tree room," Tobias says, and he runs across the orchard toward the dorms. I run after him.

He stops along a corner and says, "We just need to get a general consensus. Let's just check out the dorms. Quickly. If there's no humans there, we can only guess that there is none."

I nod. He mimics me and we separate.

I look in the rooms, the dorms, the laundry, the bathrooms. No one. Nobody. I even look in the closets, wary at every noise, and peek out the windows. I catch glimpses of the Souls in the tree room through a window. All I can see are their backs. But I know they're taken over. Even the Amity did not want to be killed. They're smart enough to know that aliens who take over Earth are not merciful enough to not kill them.

I walk through the dining hall on my way out. There's still the tables and benches set up down the length of the room. Empty bowls sit periodically on the tabletops. It looks so normal. I stop and let my hand drift along the smooth wood. How can something be so normal when everything else has turned to such war?

I look up when I hear footsteps. Before I can pull my gun, Tobias lifts up his hands, almost defensively.

"Well?" I ask.

"Nothing. They're all taken over. I looked in on the tree room. Not one of them doesn't have those eyes," he says.

My breath hitches. "Now what?"

He lets out a breath and says, "We head back to the car, see if we can find any humans in the city."

That's what we do.

* * *

I wonder how visible we are to the Souls as we drive along the streets. We need to move through stealthily, but we also can't abandon the car to them.

We watch their faces as we pass by, crouching as low as we can. Their eyes, the eyes of the factionless and the Erudite and the Abnegation and the Dauntless and the few remaining Amity and some Candor. They're all equal now. They're all gone with an alien inside them.

I am still startled by the silver of their eyes. It's flashing and unnatural, like the dark-colored contacts of the Dauntless teens I had seen in the school cafeteria.

We have two objectives on this trip. Get into the Abnegation kitchens, where most of the food is canned and dried, and find out for certain if there are any survivors and if any of them are family members or friends to us.

I fear the worst.

Tobias parks the car alongside one of the Abnegation houses. We did see a few unfamiliar faces on the street corners. They're wearing black outfits, an outline of a pistol ready in their hand if they need to fire it.

The Seekers.

They're positioned all over the city, like guards. And all around us the people are cleaning up, taking their city back, together. Under an entirely different influence than Jeanine's, but still the same. Something that makes them all do what they're told, because they're told it's the right thing to do.

We get out. Guns in our hands, we cross over to an empty Abnegation house. As usual, it's unlocked. It's empty in the way that lets us know that there's no one living here. Just all the usual furniture and foodstuffs in every Abnegation home. It looks like Tobias's. And my own.

Christina snatches up a homemade basket and we raid the place. Tobias reaches for the tallest shelves. We get pasta and cans of soup and liquids. Sacks of small things. Uriah stands by the door, keeping watch in case someone comes after us.

I stand up, a bag hanging on my shoulder, and look to Tobias. He has gone to the second floor and he comes down the stairs bearing more things. Sheets. Blankets. Flashlights. Does it matter if we take things from the Souls? It almost doesn't feel like stealing. It's more like taking back.

"Let's go," he says, and we carry the things to the car and load up the trunk.

Tobias shuts the trunk and turns to me. "Hey," he says quietly. "What is it?"

"Isn't strange to think how we used to live in a place like this, and then just a few choices changed that?" I say quietly.

He nods and waves a hand to himself. I almost tentatively walk to him, and he wraps an arm around me, and I almost let myself fall against his muscular shoulder. He runs a hand through my hair, almost like he's just making sure that I'm here.

I'm hit with a sudden thought. What if Tobias was turned into one of those Souls? What if instead of dark blue, intense eyes, he stared back with silver ones? The thought of him leaving me forever in a world so dark and desolate sends a wave through me. A wave of pain. A wave of fear.

He whispers something into my ear, and Uriah sticks his head out, demanding for us to come into the car.

"Where are we going?" I ask as I draw back.

Tobias starts up the car. Uriah turns back to me and says, "We're going to pass by the Erudite building, see if we can find some of our people."

"They're not going to be human if they're just walking around with the Souls," I point out.

Uriah sighs. "I know. But we can still see if they're still here, and if they've been converted into Souls or not."

We're there within minutes. Our buildings really are in close corners. I see the streets I walked to get to the Erudite building after Jeanine called for me or else others would die. They're cleaner now. The Souls have been cleaning them. Not the factions and factionless. The Souls.

I look up when I see Uriah up front. He's looking for something in the shelf in the car. After a moment, he pulls out black pairs of glasses and hands them to us. The one in my hand looks shaded over. These are Erudite cars, then. Ones with unnecessary glasses.

"Will this make us look less suspicious or not?" Christina says, slipping hers on.

"If someone asks you about them, say your new eyes are sensitive," Tobias says. He waves a hand around. "Because of the recent insertion. You're not used to this planet's sun."

"What if they're not there?" Zeke says. He's in the back, looking as poised as a tiger. His eyes look anxious, and I realize something. Shauna. He left her there. I didn't even think of that until now. Of course he wants to find her.

Tobias looks determined. "We'll find them."

**YES, YES, look at that, all good. God bless you!**


	4. Finding Humans

**Thank You, God, for everything.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Divergent or The Host. **

We pile out of the car. Tobias has an idea. I don't know if it's a wise one. There's a few more pairs of sunglasses from the car. Looking straight ahead, he passes them to random people we pass on our way into the Erudite building. He wants us to look like them. Regular Souls.

The place is cleaned up. The tile is not scratched at all. It's almost suspicious. Tobias, I'm shocked to see, walks straight up to the receptionist. The rest of our group stops in shock.

"Hey, excuse me," Tobias says.

The woman at the computer looks up. She has silver eyes and a bright smile. "Oh, hello. Can I help you with anything?"

"Oh, I was looking for some people. I think the human that used to be here was friends with them," Tobias says, wearing an easy smile, as if he is actually just trying to find his Host's former friends. In a way, part of that is true.

The receptionist smiles. "Of course." She types rapidly on her computer and says, "What are their names? Did they keep their names or are they using their Host names?"

"Host names, I believe," Tobias says. He leans against the counter. His whole body is comfortable and relaxed.

My heart pounds against my chest as he lists off some names. Some of the people I know and people I have never heard of. The woman prints off a paper and smiling, hands it to him. He smiles back at her and then walks back to us.

"Found them," he says, and we wait until we're outside before Zeke is right in front of Tobias, saying, "What the hell was that?"

"I was securing names," Tobias says.

"Just walk up to her?" Zeke says.

I wonder if Tobias has a bit of Erudite in him. He had a point. Act like them. Walk in front of them blindly but in plain sight. He had a plan. It's a good one, actually.

He smiles. Holds up the list. "Got the names."

Zeke attacks the list like he's going to eat it. He looks back to Tobias and says angrily, "Shauna's name isn't on here."

"Yes," Tobias says. He sounds a bit more serious. He points to a list of human names and a list of what is supposed to be names but sounds strange, like He Who Runs and Across the Winds and Bluster. "The alien corresponded the aliens' names with their Hosts' names. Shauna's not on there." He looks to Zeke. "Shauna hasn't been inserted."

I rush over and look at the list. My eyes scan the paper and latch onto choice names that make my heart pound and my lungs crumple. Caleb Prior. Tori Wu. Marcus Eaton. Evelyn Eaton.

Caleb.

My brother has been taken over by a soul.

My brother is dead.

I want to fall. I want to fall onto my knees and crumple onto the ground. My whole world is gone. My parents are dead. My brother is gone.

A hand falls on my shoulder. It squeezes gently, just laying on enough pressure to let me know he's there. Tobias.

He's my family now.

He guides me. His hand stays on my shoulder as we begin to carefully spill down the alleys, our hands at the guns at all times. My gun feels numb in my hand. My whole body feels numb. It's like I'm in a fearscape that I can't control. Or escape.

We need to find Shauna. Zeke is excited and sure that we can find Hector as well. We can only hope.

Christina's face looks sullen and ashen. Her family's been taken over. Uriah's as happy as Zeke, running through the alleys. They have to be hiding out somewhere, or risk being discovered.

There's a sudden rustling noise at the end of an alley. Near the trash cans, underneath a window. Tobias and I instantly turn to the noise. He has his gun pointed, his feet in a shooting stance. He steps forward, taking me with him, even though I feel like my feet are rooted to the ground. I'm so light, though, that my grip on the ground is barely noticed.

I see feet. Young legs. Maybe of a child. I tilt my head, and I see him. Relief washes me as I hurry out of Tobias's grip and hurry to him.

"Tris!" Tobias says loudly, but I ignore him. It's Hector, and he has normal eyes.

I crouch a bit away from him, saying, "Hector? It's Tris. Marlene's friend."

He doesn't say a word. His eyes are human, but shine like a cat's in the dark. He's trying to stay away from me.

I sigh. "I'm the Divergent one."

"Divergent," he whispers.

"And Soul-free," I say.

"Tris." He sounds relieved.

I smile. "Hector, where's Shauna?"

In answer he stands up and starts back up the alley, pushing past Tobias. I hurry after him. Tobias's footsteps sound behind me.

We enter a building and head into a closet where Hector has Shauna in her wheelchair. She looks more bedraggled than ever; she looks scared as she says, warningly, almost trying to get out of the wheelchair, "Hector!"

"No, we're fine. We're human," Tobias says. He widens his eyes almost comically.

Shauna sits back, relieved. "Where were you?" she breathes.

"We went past the fence," I say. Tobias takes the handles of her wheelchair. Hector opens the door and leads us out.

We head to take them to the car, and Tobias just has Shauna's wheelchair folded up in the back when Christina says, "Tris."

I turn to her and she says, tilting her head away from us, "You and Tobias might want to see this."

I think that's the first time she's said Tobias's real name. Probably picked it up from me. She knew that Four couldn't possibly be his real name.

Uriah and Zeke, having come back, reunite with Shauna and Hector. Tobias and I hurry after Christina, our hands on the guns at our hips. Hidden away from sight in our hands, of course. No need to instigate a fight if they think we're violent. Still, I find the smooth coldness a relief to have. A way to escape from these aliens.

Christina nods her head toward an open doorway to the building we used to go to have Abnegation meetings. She doesn't say a word but Tobias goes through the door. I follow him.

In the vast room filled with benches, I see a few Souls. Some sweeping away the dust. Some getting at the cobwebs in the corners. Others wiping down the benches. Some are chatting happily. They sound human. They still have their voices. Their speech is light, though. Polite. Like they took a second and thought about what they were going to say before it came out of their mouths.

In the corner is a dark-haired teenager. I take a step forward. I almost falter.

He turns his head.

Caleb.

My brother. With silver eyes.

They stare at me for a split second before he turns to another Soul, a bright smile on his face. Not the calm, reassuring smile he used to give others when he was helping them. He's helping them now, but as an alien. Not an Abnegation member.

I take a step back. My breath shakes. It's not even him anymore. That's not his smile. That's not Caleb. It's merely Caleb's body.

I look to Tobias, and follow his staring gaze over to two people. They're taking things out of a box and wiping them down. They're having easy conversation, looking at each other happily. The smiles look strange on both of their faces.

Evelyn and Marcus.

They look so different, despite no physical change. Except for their eyes. Marcus's face still is greyish, but has a warmth to it. How can an alien give warmth to the face of a cruel human is beyond me, but it's still there.

Evelyn's tanner skin nearly glows. She looks beautiful.

They look fine together. Happy, almost. And it's that fact that I know is hurting Tobias, sending pain and anguish and anger through him. His face is placid, his eyes never leaving them. He can't go to them even if he wants to.

I look away from them and he says, turning to me, "Let's go, Tris."

I nod. There's no need to stay here anymore. They're gone. And we were angry with all three of them. But now they're gone. Are either Tobias or I even now pained by their deaths? More like numbed.

It sounds horrible. To feel numbness at my brother's death. I cried for my parents, but I have no tears for my brother.

I wonder if the tears will come later.

Tobias and I take to the car. Hector sits between Zeke and Shauna in the back backseat. Uriah wants to drive. Tobias shows him how and swears that if he crashes, he's getting it. Uriah just grins. He's much happy now that we have Shauna and Hector. Not Marlene or Lynn, but still. At least they're alive and not aliens.

Christina sits up front, and Tobias draws the door to a sharp close. He takes a seat next to me. Uriah starts up the car.

I look out the window as he drives slowly through the streets, trying not to arouse too much suspicion by going too fast. Everyone here is slow.

I see aliens still cleaning up the place, smiling at strangers and former enemies, and I see her. Tori. Black-grey-streaked hair, the tattoos. Her leg looks fine now. I wonder if they healed it. She has silver eyes as well.

When we're almost at the city limits, I see someone. Someone I don't like but can easily recognize. He runs past us, nearly in front of the car. Uriah instantly puts on the brakes and we bounce.

The flash of blonde hair told me enough. I look out my window. He's stopped, and he stares back at me with plain human eyes.

Peter.

He's human.

But I don't want to save him.

"Who the hell was that?" Uriah says.

"Peter," I mutter.

"An alien?" Christina asks.

I shake my head. Peter must see it, and his eyes harden and he turns and runs away. Not wanting to join us. Thinking he can't. He's right. He's a traitor, having worked with Jeanine. Even if we had him with us, none of us would want him.

"He's gone," I say.

No one says a word as Uriah starts the car moving again.

We drive. I don't know for how long. We just drive out into the darkness. Uriah keeps to the roads until other cars show up. He takes a side-road and we keep to the empty roads.

At some time we open cans. I barely eat. I have no appetite. Tobias must notice as he puts down the can in his hand and says not a word as he wraps his right arm around my shoulders and holds me to him. His other hands splays on my lap. I hold it and lean against him.

"Did you see Caleb?" he asks me.

I nod.

He sighs. "Oh, Tris."

I feel a shudder flood my body. My entire body shakes. I can't stop. The thoughts of being alone fills me, and I wish them away, but they don't leave. Tobias's hand tightens around mine, almost as if he's sending a warning to my shuddering to go away.

I know he won't say it'll be okay. Tobias doesn't sugarcoat anything. He's brutally honest, and so I won't hear fake words from him.

After a moment, Christina says, "Are we the last humans on Earth?"

I have no idea. We probably are.

**Thanks for reading! PLEASE REVIEW IF YOU'D LIKE TO. God bless you!**


	5. Why, Hello Melanie!

**Thank You, God, for everything.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own The Host or Divergent. Oh yes, I've made a Host character appear; this is good. **

Silver eyes: They're not on her. Those are human eyes. I take to the window of the car. Her car passes out of sight, but I still remember. Those were brown eyes.

I turn to Tobias. He's got a bit of scruff along his face now. It's been a couple of months since the Souls had invaded our city. He hasn't shaved in weeks. The razors we haven't been able to pick up when we raid the houses of the Souls.

"Tobias," I say.

"Yes?" he says. He glances away from forward, where he is driving the car toward at the moment, to the special place we have.

"I saw a human," I whisper.

The car is pulled off the road. We're at our hiding place now. He parks the car and turns to me quickly, his eyes shining with surprise.

"What?"

"That car that passed us," I say quietly. Zeke and Uriah are talking loudly in the back. I feel the need to whisper. "The driver. A young woman. She had brown eyes."

"Brown eyes," he whispers. Without another word, he captures the steering wheel in his hands and turns us out of our shaded old shed that's a quarter mile outside of the city.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Zeke wants to know.

"Tris saw a human," Tobias says. He gives me a smile. I treasure it. He doesn't smile much these days. None of us do. "We're going to go get her."

Kidnapping. That's what we're about to do. Before all this, I would have thought that action horrible and cruel. But we're desperate. Desperate for someone other than the same six people we've been living with for two months. Someone not a Soul.

We're not going to let her out of our sight.

We get really close to the car. We practically scrape against it as Tobias shifts the car to the left lane. She glances at us and drives faster.

Tobias just drives faster. Undeterred.

Once we're window-to-window, I tap a button. The window of the car goes down. I lean out, my now slightly longer blonde hair whipping in my face as I yell, "Hey, hey!"

The girl notices me and shakes her head, yelling back, "Go to hell, Seeker!"

"I'm not a Seeker!" I yell. "I'm a human!"

Her eyes widen. She almost looks like she doesn't believe me. But I push my blonde hair out of my face, revealing my pale watery eyes to her. "I'm a human," I say, almost begging. "Please, stop!"

She glances back to the road. I don't know if she believes us or not.

Tobias expertly turns the wheel of the car. The sides begin to dig into her car's sides. She lets out a yell and pulls over. Tobias drives the car and parks it next to hers.

She walks out, a girl a few years old than me. She has dark brown hair, brown eyes, and a furious look on her face. She stomps up to Tobias and says, "What was that? Why were you trying to kill my car?"

"We were trying to stop you," he says. "We're humans, too."

She looks at him blankly then. She looks shocked. Astounded. She takes a step forward and examines his eyes. She looks to me. Her own plain human eyes look scared.

She looks at Zeke. Uriah.

"Humans," she says.

"Why are you going into that city?" Tobias asks, pointing to it.

She stiffens her back. "My cousin is in there."

"Your cousin?" he says.

"Sharon," she says.

"She's bound to be a Soul now," he says.

She shakes her head. "No. I saw her on the TV; she's alive and she's not a Soul." She huffs and turns back to her car, saying, "I need to go get her."

"Wait, stop," Zeke says.

The girl turns to him. Her look is hostile. A prick of fear forms in me. I never thought I could be scared of a human after those two months. She breathes heavily as she says, "I haven't seen my cousin in years. I need to get her out now. Do you think I want her turned into one of those Souls?"

"No." Tobias is honest. "But I want answers. We want answers. Can we take you back to our base?"

"Base?" she asks, sounding astonished.

"Yeah. It's just the seven of us," Tobias says. He jerks his head back and says, "Please."

A moment passes. I don't know if she wants to come or not. I don't know how she'll react to our small abandoned house, but after a moment, she nods.

"Okay," she says.

"And we can help you. Find your cousin, I mean," Tobias says. His voice is almost cold. He wants to help her because he can't help anyone else. He can't get back his parents, however much he hates them.

She nods and holds out her hand. She says in a professional voice, "I'm Melanie Stryder."

"I'm Tobias Eaton," he says. He shakes her hand and steps back to me. He puts a hand on the small of my back protectively, almost if he is sending her a subtle signal. "This is Tris Prior."

Melanie nods.

* * *

She follows us in her car.

She doesn't run away.

The abandoned house is on a cliff. It overlooks a plain of roads no one uses anymore. It's nice. At least we're not scared of cars discovering us here.

Melanie tentatively looks around. Tobias shows her around the house. I introduce her to Christina, Shauna and Hector. Upon seeing Shauna sitting in a wheelchair, Melanie says, "The Healers could have healed you."

"Huh?" Shauna says.

Melanie nods to her crippled legs. "The Souls are perfect. Without bodily defect. The Healers can make them pretty much as healthy as can be."

"Yeah, and if I was caught, they'd've stuff an alien into me," Shauna says.

"Through the neck," Melanie says. I'm confused. She turns around and moves her head away from her neck. A finger scrapes against her tan skin. "When they put a Soul into a human, they make a slit in the neck." She turns back to us. "They leave a scar. That's another telltale sign you're taken over if you have a scar across your neck." A thought enters her head, and she adds, "Unless it's self-inflicted."

I wonder what she means by that. I don't ask her about it, though. I lead her through the house and into the meager kitchen. Everything is grey and looking down. It works, though. Having lived in Abnegation, I'm used to sparse things like this. Like it, even. It's comforting, for it to be so small. Uriah, Zeke, Shauna, and Hector, having grown up in Dauntless, have no idea how to cook. Christina and I make the meals. Sometimes Tobias helps. When he's not busy.

I see him sometimes sitting in a room, looking out a window. North, towards the city.

He had said the only reason he had remained in Dauntless was because of me. That he would have become a factionless member instead. I wonder if he feels it now. How to really be without a home. To be away from the factions.

He's been quiet. We share a bedroom. There's only three in this place, and we all prefer sleeping upstairs. He doesn't say much, but he touches me, but only enough to make me feel that ache again. Not enough to scare me. To provoke the fear from my fearscape. Our kisses are sometimes soft. Sometimes desperate. I hate when they're desperate, like we're trying to run away from our problems.

Melanie helps with dinner and we eat outside. Tobias even makes a fire. There's no Souls around here for miles. I know. I've walked the perimeter with the boys and Christina. We're the only ones here for three miles. From this cliff, I can see down below. See if there is any Souls coming to steal us away to their Healers.

We tell what happened to the city to Melanie. She sighs and says, "I guess that's why Sharon's in there. It's newly inhabited. Maybe she's looking for new empty places to hide in or something."

She straightens and spills her tale. What she knows about Souls, from her experiences. That she's heard they retain memories from the previous human. She takes a deep breath, and continues. She has a brother named Jamie, who's around thirteen. He's in a cabin in the desert with a guy named Jared Howe. I watch her face as she says his name. She says it admiringly. With a smile. And I already know.

They've been working together for a few years, raiding Soul houses and surviving. At a TV that was left on in a house they were raiding, she saw her cousin on the screen and how she's set out to get her.

"I NEED to find her," Melanie says. She looks at each face around the fire, like she's defying us and doesn't care because no one will stop her.

"You can't just go in there alone," Christina points out.

"And what do you suggest I do otherwise? Let her become one of-of them?" Melanie spits.

Tobias was watching the fire, but now he looks up and says, "Let us help you."

My heart pounds. He hadn't said anything about heading into the city to bring back her cousin. All we've done there is raid houses.

But everyone else looks fine with the plan. Like they agree with it. And I get it. Tobias would have known the Erudite in me would lead me to this very simple solution: we simply can't let a human get away when the entire country is filled with alien Souls.

So we have to get her cousin Sharon. It's the Dauntless in me that feels a thrill for sneaking around more. The Souls in the Abnegation section of the city must have gotten a bit from their humans, for they're quieter and they never find us. Going out into other parts of the city sounds exciting. Getting something other than foodstuffs sounds exciting, too.

"How?" Melanie says. "There's too many of you all."

"We all don't have to go. We can be discreet," Tobias says.

"How can I trust you to be helpful? You've only been rebels for two months. I've been sneaking around those parasites for years," Melanie says.

"I've been jumping from trains my entire life," Uriah says.

"I can shoot and never miss," Zeke says.

I straighten. "I saved thousands of people from killing other people." That's the first time I've told myself that, even though it's the truth. I nod to Tobias. "He can hit a target in the center with a knife on every throw."

Tobias shakes his head. "Out of all the amazing things I've done, the thing I'm the best at is hitting dead center with a knife?"

"Not a butter knife, though," I say. My voice is harsh. "Peter was better at that."

"Who's Peter?" Melanie wonders.

"Someone none of us like or like to talk about," Christina says cheerfully. She leans forward, her hands clasped in front of her, and says, "Are we in?"

"Because if you don't agree, we'll go out there anyway," Tobias says. He shrugs. "Can't help ourselves."

Melanie sighs. "There's no stopping any of you, then, huh?"

"Be damned if you say yes and damned if you say no," Uriah says. He tosses a stick into the fire.

Melanie nods then. "Fine. When are we leaving? I want to get in and get out as soon as possible."

"Tomorrow can work," Tobias says. He leans forward a bit. I can see the fire dancing in his cold eyes. "We've got guns. We're prepared. Do you know where your cousin is?"

"I have a feeling," Melanie says. She glances at each of us in turn. "Can you promise that we'll get her back?"

"Or die getting Healed," Tobias says. Oh, how the words 'heal' and 'soul' have changed in definition for us. Ever since we went out into the world, my perspective on several things has changed. Stealing from aliens is fine. Sunglasses are mandatory wear, even in the dark. We have to be selfish.

Melanie nods. "Then it's a plan."

That's all we need.

**Yes, look at all the fantastic planning. Please review, guys, 'cause I've seen the amount of views on this story but **_**no reviews**_** and that makes me sad. :(. Don't make me sad; review today!**


	6. Seekers

**Thank You, God, for everything.****  
**

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own The Host or Divergent.**

"Are you ready?" I turn when I hear the voice. It sounds slightly concerned. Interested. Quiet.

"Yes," I say. I look at the gun. It gleams in the early morning sunlight.

"You can fire and you won't freeze?" Tobias says. He steps into the room. The room is grey. Our room. The curtains move slightly in the breeze. Our windows up here don't have any panes.

I won't. I won't let myself freeze. Not after everything. I should be used to firing a gun. I just need to stay calm, steady my heartbeat. And shoot. And they're going to be Souls. They won't try to shoot me. They're aliens; they aren't human. Not human. Not human. Not human.

"I won't," I say.

He steps closer, his head tilted. He shakes his head. "I don't know if I believe you."

"You're going to have to. You need to trust me to do my job," I say. "That's what I want, Tobias. Trust me." Because I don't know if he completely and utterly trusts me. I trust him with my life and my heart. Does he do the same for me? I'm not sure. I don't like that I'm not sure.

He takes another step forward. "I don't want you to freeze."

"There's not going to be invading Erudite or anything like that, Tobias. Just Souls," I say. I close the distance between us. There's less than three inches between our bodies. He has to cock his head just to see me.

"Souls that want to take you away from me," he says. He cups his fingers around my chin and tilts my head up to him. He bends his back to tilt his head back more. He whispers, "I won't let them."

"I know you won't," I whisper. I'll protect myself. He'll protect me. He always does, despite the fact that he lets me go by myself to many dangerous things. He trusts me then.

And I wonder what it would be like to be inserted with a Soul. To die away within my own body. To disappear. To die, and have my body move around and be controlled without me in it. It wouldn't have my mind. It wouldn't have me. It would just be a controlled body. Nothing more.

Looking back to Tobias, I first look to his eyes. I always look to his eyes now. To have his dark blue eyes reassure me. To have them not be silver. It calms me. It reminds me that I still have Tobias, that he isn't being controlled by something not his own. Like when he was under the serum.

I wonder if he would try to strangle me if he became a Soul. Like when he was under the serum.

"Don't let them take you," I say.

He shakes his head. His lips turn into a smile. "Don't worry. I won't let them."

"Promise?" I whisper.

His lips touch mine. "Promise." And he applies pressure.

One of my hands reaches up and captures his neck in my curved grip. I hold him to me. One of his hands grips around my waist protectively, his fingers curved around my small hips. This isn't like what our other late-night kisses have been like. Those have been hungry, searching, needing. This is soft, reassuring, calming. My body buzzes with tingles and heat but my head is surprisingly clear.

Tobias has been quiet for the past two months. But he's still here.

He drops back. His nose gently touches mine. His hand feels so soft against my skin. "And I'll keep that promise until I die."

"Oh, don't go doing that on me," I say.

"Can't promise that," he says.

"Well, try not to die. Okay?" I say.

He nods and leans in again, and repeats, "Promise."

* * *

We're separated.

We shouldn't be.

But we have to cover three entrance ways into the building.

It's dark, still early morning. Shauna and Hector (he begged to come. Tobias was unmoved) are left at the house. Zeke told Hector he could protect Shauna if the place was attacked. He was unmoved as well.

It's cold. We all wear jackets. Zeke divides us into pairs. Tobias and him. Uriah and Christina. Melanie and me. Tobias looks like he wants to be with me, but I give him a look. A look that says I'll be fine. I can protect myself. And he nods. Because he trusts me. He merely holds his gun as discreetly to his body as possible and adjusts his sunglasses.

We had a debate on the way over. Over the sunglasses and would we be thought strange for wearing them so early in the morning? But better to not be discovered than to go out in the day when everyone enters this building.

Melanie doesn't have a gun, but she has a knife. That will have to do. She doesn't know how to handle a gun. There's also none extra. She nods to me and we head into a basement door. It's unlocked.

"On which floor will Sharon be?" I ask.

"I don't know," Melanie says. She turns to me as we walk through the people-empty basement, which is filled with shelves all stocked. This must be a business building. "I think she and my aunt Maggie are hiding in this city."

"Why is that?" I ask.

Melanie goes to answer me, but we're at a door. We need to stay quiet.

It falls open easily under her deft hand. She heads out first. I automatically put my hand to my gun. To feel safe. I let out a breath as I follow her.

We're in a corridor. It's a white hall, with tile flooring and freshly painted walls. It looks clean. Too clean.

"We need to get to the higher floors," Melanie says. I nod. She looks around a corner and says, "Follow me. Be careful. Don't make any noise."

I take in a deep breath through my nose and follow Melanie. We walk down the corridor without any trouble. No Seekers thus far. I wonder if they have any guards in this building. Maybe not, since Souls are supposed to be peaceful creatures. Still.

We peek around a corner. The entire place is cold white. It reminds me of Candor headquarters. Except they're black and white. Honest and dishonest.

We pass a series of chairs and tables. I don't hear any noise. I wonder if the others have gotten into the building. And I realize something.

"Melanie, what does Sharon look like?" I whisper. She takes to the stairs. I quickly stretch my short legs to keep up with her. She has a physically fit, strong body that is the opposite of what I have. We look completely opposite.

At the top of the stairs Melanie turns to me. "Pink hair. Pale face. My height. Basically." She turns and then turns back to me. "Human eyes."

I roll my eyes. "I know that."

Melanie shakes as she turns away. She's nervous, her body a bunch of nerves. I should be nervous too, but all I feel is a rush of adrenaline as we hurry up flight after flight of stairs. We have the job of taking the third floor of this building.

I hold in my breath as we go around a corner, and then we hear footsteps. We both turn to see Souls. Seekers, from the looks of them. They're not wearing business suits but hunting suits. My heart leaps into my throat.

"Excuse me," one of the Seekers says. It's a woman wearing a black suit. Her nose is long and her voice soft. Too soft for such an angular body. "Where are you going?"

"Upstairs," Melanie says as calmly as she can.

A man with dark skin steps forward. "Why are you wearing those glasses in here?"

I fumble out the only thing that comes to my mind: "My eyes are sensitive."

The Seeker steps forward. I cringe. They can outwardly see my cringe. And Melanie had told me before: Souls are perfect. I shouldn't have sensitive eyes.

"Let us take you to the Healers," the man says.

"I can do that. I was just heading there after this," I say quickly. My body feels frozen. I'm surprised I can even talk. I've never actually talked civilly to one of the Souls before. For good reason.

The man is insisting. "Please, come with us."

"No," Melanie says. We take another step back. A mistake. A step back means we're afraid of them. That we aren't going to come willingly.

I remember my gun. My hand draws it slowly out of my waistline around my pants, like I'm not controlling it at all but my hand is controlled by itself.

The man reaches out for Melanie. I whip my gun out and holding it in both my hands, shoot him in the shoulder. He chokes and fumbles back, and I turn and say to Melanie, "Run."

And we run.

I race around a corner. There's yells. Calm yells. Quiet, enticing yells for us to come. Like we're young children who are disobeying their parents.

I never disobeyed my parents.

Seekers come around the corner. They have guns now. They know I'm armed. They don't know that Melanie has a knife.

Will they fire at me?

I spin around, my gun still out in my hands, and someone comes behind me. Grabs my shoulders. Pulls my arms down. Someone steps forward and wrenches the gun from my hand. I hold on as much as I can. But the Seeker doesn't seem to notice as she plucks it out of my hand.

How I wish I didn't bite my nails. I wish I had talons to rip through their perfect, porcelain skin.

They let go of my hands. But three Seekers surround me. I can't escape.

One steps forward. She has dark brown hair and is shorter than even me. She swipes off my sunglasses, making me shirk into my guards. The bright light of the place blinds me.

"Why are you and your friend here?" she asks. Her voice sounds almost biting.

"I don't know," I say immediately. "We heard a noise and were trying to see where it came from."

The Seeker's silver eyes narrow.

I'm such a horrible liar.

We're all quiet. All we do is breathe. I feel the presence of the Seekers around my tiny body.

From above, we can hear:

"It's fine, it's fine."

"Be careful!"

"Don't hurt yourself."

"Please! There is danger ahead!"

"Please!"

And running. Melanie's running. She's going, going, going-

The running stops.

The Seekers immediately look alert. My breathing hitches. They caught her, they caught Melanie, they're going to turn us into Souls, we're going-

There's a loud THUMP!

The Seeker in front of me orders us to head to where the other Seekers are. I get jostled as we move toward the stairs.

We don't move very far before six or seven Seekers come hurrying down the stairs, criss-crossing with our direction.

"Where are you going?" the dark-haired Seeker demands.

"She jumped," one Seeker stops to say. He shakes his head. "She jumped down an elevator shaft. We fear her body might not have survived."

I instantly feel my insides seize up. My face remains the same, though inwardly I feel like screaming. An elevator shaft. She jumped to her death rather than allow her body to be taken and inserted with a Soul.

I respect that.

But a suicide.

Like Al's.

By jumping.

Like Al's.

I feel numb as I get bumped and pressed against bodies as we hurry to the basement, to where Melanie and I had first entered. I wonder where Tobias and the others are as we disappear down into the bottom floor.

There's a group of Souls around the elevator shaft. I manage to get a peek through the crooked elbow of one of my guard Seekers. It's Melanie. Her body, anyway. Battered. Marked with red. Broken.

She's gone.

A Seekers steps forward and takes her pulse. I have the urge to attack that Soul just for touching her.

He lets out a sigh of relief(?) and says quietly, "She's still alive."

I feel like stumbling. She's still alive, and that means only one thing. She will be turned into a Soul.

And, with us being surrounded, so will I.

**Bwuhahaha. XD God bless you!**


	7. Wanderer!

**Thank You, God, for everything.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own The Host or Divergent. I have a guinea pig, though, one that likes eating my hair. :)**

Melanie is taken on a stretcher. I'm forced to walk. I don't mind, though. I'd rather not be knocked out like her. So vulnerable.

There's one thing I wonder as we're taken out of the building toward an open car door: Where is Tobias and the others? Have they found Sharon? Are they going looking for us? Will they find us?

I want to say goodbye to Tobias. There's still time for that promise to him that I made to myself to be kept. But only so much time.

I wish I had my gun.

We're taken to a hospital. That's what it would be if it helped people, of course. It's more of an insertion place now. Melanie gets taken in quickly. I'm not provoked by guns but am taken in by Seekers. The entire place is stark, bright white. Everything is so white now. It's the Souls's color.

Everything is stainless. The tiles shine and the receptionist's desk does, too. It reminds me of the Erudite building. How everyone is quiet and doing their work, some at some computers, others walking around with clipboards. Everyone has silver eyes here, though. A big difference between them and the Erudite. At least the Erudite were human.

I'm taken through an elevator to a large room with long, floor length windows, and two long tables. One has Melanie on it, Souls crowded around her. My fists tighten when I see boxes and little jars of powders they're using on her.

"Are you killing her?" I say my first words since our exit from the building.

The Seeker who had questioned me shakes her head. "They're Healing her. They can't put a Soul into a broken body."

Of course not. Why would they do that?

They instruct me to lay facedown on the metallic table. There's no use in arguing, so I do as they say. The table is cold and silver. It hurts my face to press against it. It feels like the cold is seeping into my body and the table is sucking away all of my body heat. Maybe it is.

My hands gets strapped down. The Seekers head away, leaving a couple of Healers and a group of Souls standing against a wall. They're talking and writing stuff down, like they're keeping notes. Notes on how to kill humans.

I shudder as I turn my head against the table to face away from them. I can't stand the sight of them, not when they're watching my execution. At the thought, my body starts to shake, and I push out every thought except for Tobias. He will come, he will come, he will come.

In front of me steps a Healer with another Soul next to him. Despite his silver eyes, he looks calm.

"Hello," he says. "My name is Fords Deep Waters." What a strange name. "I am your Healer. How do you feel?"

How do I feel?

"Cold," I mutter.

The Healer smiles a gentle smile. "I'm sorry to hear that. But don't worry. The cold will go away in just a minute."

He turns to a tank on a medical table. I say, "When you kill me?"

The Healer stops, his back to me, and whispers, "I'm sorry."

He's sorry? If he was sorry, he wouldn't insert one of his own kind into my neck. I wiggle as Fords Deep Waters turns to the Soul next to him and says, "Darren, can you get the Quiet, please?"

I stop struggling. Quiet? I watch stiffly as Darren opens a jar and dabs a cloth into it. Quiet. It must be some kind of drug, like a serum that they put against your mouth.

I struggle harder now. They're going to press something to my mouth. To knock me unconscious so I won't struggle. I just know it. And I won't stand it.

Darren steps forward and puts the cloth against me. I have an idea and instantly close my eyes. Even my breath. Breathe through my mouth instead of my nose. Try not to breathe in the fumes. Darren immediately takes the cloth away. He thinks I'm passed out.

But I'm not. I'm still as awake as ever, even with my eyes closed, though slightly drowsy. I peek a lid open to see Fords Deep Waters coming over with a knife. A long scalpel, on closer inspection. I have to keep my head down, but I feel like screaming, like biting down into a pillow and screaming my lungs out.

I feel it. Instantly. A long cut across the flesh of my neck. It stings and hurts from how deep it is. I wish even more for something soft to scream into. I feel a cloth go against it, dabbing up the blood. It feels cool against my burning, achy skin.

The Healer steps away. He goes to a tank and opens it, revealing a little container with something silvery inside. My heart pounds. That must be the Soul.

I will be dead in less than a minute.

I don't want to die.

And Tobias keeps his promises.

A crash comes through the door. I don't feel any little alien slipping into my skin.

I know who's come crashing through.

There's gunshots and I open my eyes to see Tobias shooting at a Seeker before punching another straight in the face. Christina is taking on my Healer. Zeke and Uriah are hurrying over to check on Melanie.

I turn my head to look to the head of the table and try to wiggle my thin wrists through the straps. I grunt. Not as slippery as the silver would suggest.

Tobias knocks out another Soul and hurries over to me.

"Hold still," he says. His quick, harsh voice startles me into stillness. He shoots at my binds. The metallic holds slip off, and I wrestle out of them and sit up on the table, rubbing my sore wrists.

"Tobias," I whisper, trying to seek his eyes. But I don't seem them. He's turned to look at the bottom of my neck. I can only imagine what he thinks of my new cut.

He doesn't say a word and presses a gun into my hand.

"From one of the Seekers. Come on," he says. He hurries to the door and I look instantly to Melanie, still lying flat on the table. Emotionless. White, pale, covered in cuts still. Dead looking.

They didn't Heal her. She would have looked perfect, like them. She's still broken. We can't move her when she's injured like that.

"Tris!" I turn to Tobias, who says, "Come on! We've got to go!"

"Melanie," I say. "Tobias, they're going to make her a Soul!"

"She's too injured for us to move her," Tobias says. I know that he's right. We don't have the medicines they have here to be able to fix her. Even if we raided houses and found the medicines we need, we wouldn't know how to use them.

But Healers are already surrounding her now. They're about to Heal her.

I take one last look at Melanie before I fly to join Tobias. Our feet are synchronized as we run down the stairs to our car.

We slam into it, and Tobias clutches my wrists. He searches my eyes and lets out a sigh of relief, and he tucks a bit of blonde hair behind my ear.

"You're still human," he whispers.

"Tobias," I say. "We have to go back in."

He shakes his head. "The others can get out okay."

"Melanie won't," I say.

"I know, but there's nothing we can do to fix her up," Tobias says firmly.

"But they're Healing her right now!" I practically yell.

He stands still at that. His eyes harden. "Then she's gone."

"So we're just going to let her be taken, then? Separated from us? What about Sharon?" A thought comes to me. "What about Jamie? What about Jared? We don't have the directions to their cabin. We have to tell them what happened to Melanie. We have to find them, too!"

Tobias looks like he wants to argue, but then his mouth snaps shut. His eyes soften slightly, and his hands tighten around my wrists, reassuring himself that I'm still here, that I'm still human. His eyes study mine. Light grey-blue. Not silver. Not an alien trying to convince him to go to his death.

I would never do that.

He nods. "Okay."

We run back into the building, shooting any Souls coming after us. We take the stairs, avoiding the elevator shaft. If I ever see an elevator again, I will never lose the image of Melanie's broken body at the bottom of it.

The door to the Healing room is locked. Tobias shoots it open. He wrestles the door open and we head in. Some of the Souls who were taking notes are helping the wounded. Fords Deep Water looks fine. And he's putting something on the back of Melanie's neck.

She's has a Soul in her now.

Tobias rushes forward. I hold my gun out, my hair bedraggled in my face, and say, "Don't move, or I will shoot." I don't know if I will shoot, but my point comes across. They don't move a bit.

"Please," Fords Deep Waters says in a pleading voice. Tobias hurries up to him and gives him a glare before he carefully lifts the unconscious body of Melanie.

"When will she wake up?" Tobias says, his voice even.

"It can take a couple hours to two weeks," Fords Deep Waters says. His eyes nervously glance over to my gun. He knows. He knows that I will shoot if he doesn't cooperate.

"She'll be fine?" Tobias says.

"She's perfectly fine now," Fords Deep Waters says.

That's all we need to know.

Tobias nods and he heads to the door. I can see the veins popping in his neck. Melanie is heavier than I am. He's used to lifting me. She's a surprise to his body.

We make it down to the front doors without any Souls attacking us. It's still early, and there's no humans being brought in for Soul insertion. There's little activity except from the Souls behind the desks, all looking shocked. Good. I cock my gun. They look stunned.

Tobias grunts. I open the front door for him. So much for subtlety. We just need to get out of here.

Uriah, Zeke and Christina are already in, and Christina moves over. Tobias sets Melanie against the seat. Her eyes are closed. Her silver eyes aren't visible.

Uriah is yelling at us to hurry up. I climb into the back back seat, leaning into the corner seat. And I shiver.

Tobias takes the seat next to me.

The door closes and we drive away.

Zeke hands me another pair of sunglasses.

I shrink against Tobias's body. He runs a hand through my hair, not saying a word. But his touch is enough. He kept his promise, and he's sorry he wasn't able to rescue Melanie. Now she's gone. A Soul.

We're all quiet as we drive back to Shauna and Hector. We found a human, the only other human we've seen since Peter, and we allowed her to die. We left her to her death, to let an alien slip in and take over her body.

Tobias takes me off his shoulder. I feel cold without him against me, but then I feel a warmth coming from my neck. His long fingers delicately touch the skin around my deep cut, applying gentle pressure. The pain hurts, and I let out a hiss.

He gulps. "How could I let this happen to you?" His voice, for the first time, sounds scared, like he was afraid of losing me, that he was afraid of me dying. Again.

"You stopped them. They didn't add the alien," I say.

He doesn't say a word. I turn back to see his face. It has a cut lip. He reminds me of when Drew, Al and Peter attacked me in the Dauntless compound. It's the look of anger against the people, or monsters, who've hurt me, and he was just in time to save me from death. The look burns into his face, making him look incredibly angry and tender at the same time.

"It won't happen again," I say.

His arms wrap around me and hold me to him. He leans against my head and whispers, "Like hell it will."

Comforting. But not comforting enough. Comforting enough to remind me that he'll go through hell to keep me safe, but not comforting enough that we'll get Melanie back. As a human.

* * *

"Is she is a Soul?" Shauna demands. She looks angry from her seat on the front porch. Hector looks up at her, worried. Zeke is on the other side of her, looking concerned.

Tobias lifts Melanie out of the car. No. Not Melanie anymore. He lifts the Soul out, the Host. He turns and starts to the front porch and into the house, not saying a word.

Christina stops dead in her tracks. She looks to me, and says in a poisonous voice, "Is she a Soul now, Tris?"

I don't want her mad at me. But the answer is inevitable. I nod.

She scowls. "I rode in a car with a Soul."

"An unconscious Soul," I quickly say. I feel at a loss for words. I need to remind them of something Melanie told us yesterday. That apparently Souls retain memories from the previous inhabitants of their bodies. This Soul will know where Jared and Jamie are.

And . . . there's a lingering thought in my head. The Soul looks like Melanie. Except for her eyes. But it looks like Melanie, like she is still there somehow.

It's a hopeless thought, of course, to think that Melanie is still in her body. But I don't want to lose her body. Not after having her for so little time.

"When will she wake up?" Uriah says. He slams the driver's door closed.

"Could be a few hours. Could be a few days," I say.

"And why don't we shoot it now?" Christina says. "While it's still unconscious?"

"Because it's still Melanie's body." I look to the front door, where Tobias is. He doesn't look pleased but remains calm. "We need her to find Jared and Jamie. We need to find the other humans."

Christina still looks annoyed, but no one else raises any objections. The dark sky, changed from how sunny it was this morning, lets out a low rumble.

"We'll leave when she wakes up," Tobias says. No one says a word. He nods to me and I hurry up to the front door and follow him into the house.

He doesn't say a word as he runs water over a washcloth in the kitchen. I turn around and he puts it against my long cut. I let out a hiss of pain at the heavy cloth against my raw, exposed flesh.

"Why's it always you they pick on?" Tobias says. "I guess they're picked up all too well on your attitude. Just like I wanted."

"It's not your fault, Tobias," I say.

"Sure," he says. He dabs along the cut and rinses the cloth. I gulp at seeing my blood run down the sink.

He returns the cloth to my neck. I turn my head the best I can without disturbing his work. I see Melanie laying on the couch. There's no beds available. Besides, she's a Soul. She doesn't have to hide from her own kind.

"When do you think she will wake up?" I say quietly.

"Who knows?" Tobias says. He sighs and says, "We don't have any bandages-"

"Just tie a rag on," I say. "I'll wear a long sleeved shirt. Cover it up. It's getting cold outside anyway."

"It's barely August," Tobias says. Still, he takes up a strip of cloth from the bunch we have gathered in a drawer and he winds it around my chest and neck to keep the washcloth on it. His fingertips burn against my skin.

"There," he whispers. He lets his fingers stay on my shoulder.

I turn to him. "Thank you."

"No problem."

* * *

The Soul wakes up two days later. We're all downstairs when she does, and we gather around her. Christina has her gun within arm's reach. I hold down her arm.

The Soul blinks her eyes. The light reflects against her silver eyes. She closes them and lets out a shriek.

"Calm down," Tobias says quickly. Before she can leap up and murder us all, as Christina thinks she will.

"She-she jumped," the Soul says. She opens her eyes again and sucks in a breath. Her arms scramble and she manages to get herself sitting upright. "She went down a huge hole!" Suddenly she looks ahead, looking horrified.

"Are you okay?" I say quietly.

The Soul shakes her head, like she's trying to forget something. "I'm-I'm fine."

"What's your name?" I ask.

She turns to me. "My name is . . . Wanderer." Her eyes find mine and her silver ones widen. She backs away, looks to each face, scrambles into a little corner of the couch.

Uriah and I exchange a look. A surprised look. She's scared of us.

"Where-where am I?" she whispers. Her legs are drawn to her chest, her arms around them. She shakes.

"In a house away from where you were inserted into Melanie's body," Tobias says.

Wanderer nods and shakes a bit more. Then she looks up and says, "Where are the Healers? The Seekers? Where-" She shrinks into herself even more. "Are-are you going to kill me?"

I look to Tobias. He looks at Christina. She doesn't move. Tobias turns to Wanderer and says, "We're not going to kill you."

"We need you to do something," Uriah says.

Wanderer straightens. "Then you'll kill me afterwards."

I shake my head, making the others look surprised. I'm stuck between her being a Soul and her being Melanie. But I don't want to kill her. As long as we have her under control, she's no harm to us.

"We won't," I say. I raise my hand. "I promise."

Tobias does the same. "Swear."

Wanderer gulps. "Okay."

"Melanie told us you would have her memories," Tobias says. He leans forward. His hair, now longer, hangs into his face. He pushes it aside. "She knows the way back to Jared and Jamie. Can you remember, put it down on a map?"

"I don't think I-I could write it down," Wanderer says quietly. "But, if we're on the road, I can-can remember what turns and exits to take."

Christina looks on edge. "And how do we know that you're not leading us astray? Taking us to the Seekers?"

Wanderer doesn't look like she knows what to say. Like she knows that's a possibility, but doesn't want to. I think she's too intimidated to lead so many humans to the Seekers. Not when we have guns and means and motivation to kill her.

"Because-because," and Wanderer looks off into the distance again. She lets out a gasp and clutches her head. She looks like she's having a fit.

"Wanderer?" Tobias says.

"Wanderer?" I whisper. What's wrong with her? It's like she's an Erudite robot that's failing. I saw one, once. Peter was escorting me back to my room in the Erudite building. We passed a room with see-through glass windows. I saw a team of Erudite members trying to calm down a mechanical looking man. It was silver. Metal. Sparks flew out of it.

I stared at it for a moment. Peter scowled. "Haven't you ever seen a robot before, Stiff?"

Wanderer shakes her head and looks to me. "Jared. Jamie."

"Yeah, we need to find them," I say.

"Okay. I'll lead you to them. Don't - you can't hurt them, though," Wanderer says. She whispers, "Please."

I nod. She looks relieved.

Tobias looks at me from across the room. We were never going to hurt the two. Why is the Soul now concerned about us hurting Jared and Jamie?

After all, if she just wanted them for Host bodies, it wouldn't matter if their bodies were broken or not.

**HELLO WANDERER IS HERE. Thank you for reading! Please review!**


	8. We Found Da Boys

**Thank You, God, for everything.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own The Host or Divergent. :)**

We pack up that night. We load the car the next morning. Shauna and Wanderer watch us from the front porch. The Soul keeps her arms around herself. Christina stops sometimes on the steps, her arms full of stuff. She has a look on her face. I know now we can't keep Wanderer alone with Christina.

The car is very full. Uriah's gotten to be good at driving. Tobias sits in the passenger's seat. I sit in the back with Hector and Wanderer. Everyone except for Hector and Wanderer have a gun on them. Wanderer shirks away into a corner. Her big silver eyes are terrified.

I feel safer with the guns. That doesn't mean that I don't feel bad about having a gun.

She sends up directions when we come to a turn. She often looks out the window, concentrating on something. I suck in a breath and look at my hands. The entire car seems tense. Silent. No one talks, like we sometimes do on raids.

No. No one wants to talk when Wanderer is in here.

We sleep in the car, however uncomfortable it is. I share a blanket with Wanderer, though she doesn't want it.

"Keep it," she says.

I shake my head and she eventually gives in. I know I shouldn't care about treating a Soul nicely, but the thought of her being left out while the rest of us have blankets seems wrong.

Christina shoots me a murderous look.

I ignore her.

* * *

We get to the cabin late on the third day. Wanderer, despite her withdrawnness, manages to get us there. No one says anything as we approach the cabin. It's on the desert plains, sand everywhere. We've been in this desert for hours. I've never seen so much sand. How do people live here?

Tobias brings the car to a stop. We all lean forward.

My breath catches as we all bend as a shot rings through the air. Wanderer lets out a loud gasp.

A man appears from inside the cabin. A tall man, brown hair, tanned skin, muscular. His mouth is in a thin line as he steps forward. His hands hold a slingshot. He reloads it, doesn't say a word, and shoots.

It cracks a corner of the windshield.

Tobias opens the window. In his hand is a white pillow case. It's gritty now, but still white. He yells, "We're humans! Stop shooting at us! We're not Souls!"

The man lowers his slingshot. He shouts, "Yeah, prove it!"

Tobias ducks his head out of the window. He points his index and middle fingers at his eyes. The sun is beating down, so the man should be able to see that there's no silver in his eyes. Just dark blue. Tobias says in a cool voice, "Human."

The man drops his slingshot. "You alone?"

Tobias shakes his head. "There's . . . eight of us." The pause in his voice tells me that he's wondering if he should tell him of Wanderer being with us.

The man nods and Tobias gets out. I lean against the window. They talk. No more yelling. There's no long distance between them now. A little face peeks out of the door of the cabin.

The man suddenly jerked his face from looking to Tobias to the car. My stomach tightens. He pushes past Tobias, who sets his mouth in a line and goes after him.

The man thrusts the door open. The sudden light slightly blinds us.

"Where is it?" he says. His voice is angry.

I instantly don't want to tell him. I know that look. That look on his face. It's murderous.

It's the look Eric had on his face when he shot the Divergent.

"WHERE IS IT?!" he yells.

A hand appears on his shoulder. "Jared." Tobias.

Jared shrugs him off. "Let go of me, where is it?!" and he sees her. She's scrunched into the corner next to me. I can feel her arms and legs recoil. She's so afraid of him. Because she knows. Everyone here knows. He wants to kill her. Maybe with his bare hands.

The thought make me gulp. My hand slides up to my throat. I can practically feel Tobias's fingertips around my neck. Bearing pressure against me. Squeezing the life out of me.

I could see it. In Melanie's eyes, when she talked around the campfire. The admiration she had when she spoke about Jared. And now he wants to murder her body.

And I won't let him. Because she loved him more than he loved her. Because Melanie would never murder Jared's body.

I put myself between Jared and Wanderer. He instantly sees me.

"Move," he orders.

I shake my head.

"MOVE," he says through gritted teeth.

"I won't let you hurt her," I say. My voice sounds strangely calm. I feel calm. I know what I'm doing. I don't, though, going against a man taller than Tobias. But I know what my goal is.

Jared's jaw tightens. He steps back. "But she's in there, isn't she?"

"Yes," I say. I straighten. "She can't come out unless you promise you won't hurt her. Remember, she hasn't done anything-"

"HASN'T DONE ANYTHING? Hasn't done anything?!" Jared says harshly, stepping forward again.

"The Souls put her in. They're the ones to blame," I say. "It's not Wanderer's fault she had Melanie's body."

"Wanderer? You named it?" Jared says, angry. He's about to rush into the car again when I hear, "Melanie?"

Jared turns and I can see the owner of the face. A boy about thirteen. Brown pants and a light blue shirt. Dark hair and alien Soulless eyes.

He looks almost like a younger Caleb.

"Jamie?" I say.

"'Melanie's body?' I want to see Melanie. Do you have Melanie with you?" Jamie says. He steps forward, but Jared puts a hand against him, separating him from the car.

"Get back in the cabin, Jamie," he says.

"No. They have my sister," Jamie says.

Jared shakes his head. "Kid, they don't . . ."

"She just said. . ." Jamie says.

I gulp. Jared sighs and says, "Look, kid . . ." He shakes his head and looks off into the distance. "This is not the way to break it to him."

"What? What happened? Is Sharon in there? Where's Melanie? Jared, move!" Jamie shoves at his arm. Jared is way bigger, though, and holds him back.

"Jamie, stop. They don't have Melanie," Jared says. His voice is firm. Alarmingly calm. His hand shakes against the boy's body, though.

"She just said-"

"They brought back Melanie's body. Kid, she has a Soul in her now."

Jamie steps away from Jared's hand. "She isn't gone."

"But she is," Jared says.

"I want to see her," Jamie says. He looks to the car. "Mel, come out. Mel-"

My heart stops pounding and starts to sent pangs through my chest. I wonder if Caleb would be so worried about me.

Tobias makes Jared step back nearly five feet. To my surprise, Zeke and Uriah get out. They look like guards.

I gulp, trying to swallow the lump in my throat. I leap over the back seat and stumble to next to Tobias.

"Don't let him get her," I say.

"I won't," Tobias says.

Wanderer slowly makes her way out. She stands tentatively in front of the open car, looking like she might bolt at any time. She folds her arms. She looks to Jared, not to Jamie.

Jared looks at her for a moment before he shakes his head, taking another step back.

Jamie steps toward her. "Melanie?"

Wanderer turns to him. He lets out a gasp.

She shakes her head. "I'm sorry, Jamie."

The boy turns and flees.

I let out a sigh.

* * *

Wanderer wants to look for Jamie.

Jared glares at her. "I'll find him."

"Please," she says. "I sent him running. Let me go find him-"

"Why do you even care?" Jared says. He shakes his head. "He's not your brother. He's Mel's. And now Mel isn't even here, because you took her body."

Wanderer looks startled. She stands back against a sofa. We're in Jared's cabin now. It's small, but cozy. I'm surprised by how clean it is.

"Let her go with you. She wants to help," Tobias says.

Jared scoffs. "Every Soul wants to 'help,' and 'heal' every human, if you haven't noticed. Like I want her to find him and drag him off to get a Soul put in him."

"I'm not going to do that, please-" Wanderer starts.

"I'll go with her," I say.

Jared glares at me then. "Why?"

"To make sure you don't kill her."

"I highly doubt you can overpower me in a fight," Jared says, shaking his head.

I cock my head. "Probably not. In a fist fight. But what about a gun fight?"

Jared stops cold then. "You have a gun?"

"We pretty much all have guns," I say. "We don't have to use them against you. We don't want to. I'll only use mine if you try to kill Wanderer. We need her."

"For what, exactly?" Jared spits.

"Directions," I say.

"To where?" Jared says quickly.

"A cave," Tobias says. He's straightened, his jaw set. He does not look amused. "Apparently, there's this place her uncle Jeb has. Away from here, hidden in the desert."

This is news to me. I look to Tobias quickly, not having heard this before.

Jared scoffs. "You heard this from her?" He points to Wanderer. She looks at the ground and shakes her head.

Tobias shrugs. "I heard it from Melanie. On the one night we had her. She told me when everyone else had gone to bed. She couldn't sleep. She had it on her mind. That and you and the kid. Hasn't she ever told you about it?"

Jared stops then. He lets out a sigh. "Melanie did." He looks around the tidy cabin. "I swear she wrote down a map she knew of. I don't know where it is. I don't even remember if she drew it or not."

Tobias looks to Wanderer. "Does Melanie's mind still have those directions?"

Wanderer looks startled. "I-I don't know. I-I can't find them. I don't know if she remembered them or not."

Jared looks at Wanderer then with such a look of pure hatred. It turns my stomach. I wonder if Tobias would look at me with pure hatred if I had been removed and replaced with a Soul.

"I'm going to go find Jamie," he says.

"All right. Come on, Wanderer," I say. Wanderer looks up, surprised. Jared doesn't say a word.

I share a look with Tobias as we walk out. I take my hand and reveal a bit of the gun to reassure him.

I don't know what we'll do now. Stay here? Go and try to find the cave? But I know one thing, anyway. I won't let Jared kill her.

We find Jamie easily. It isn't a big yard, and he knows that he could be discovered at any time by Souls, so he stays close.

He's by a tree, leaning against it. He doesn't say a word but follows Jared. Wanderer watches him with observant, sympathetic eyes. I brush Wanderer on the arm as we walk back to the cabin.

"He needs time to mourn," I whisper.

"I know. It must be hard. I was his sister. I suppose . . ." she sighs. "I suppose he'll ignore me."

"He won't be able to do that," I say. "You're staying with us."

Wanderer smiles slightly. "As long as Jared doesn't kill me."

"We won't let that happen," I say. She looks hardly reassured as we walk back to the cabin.

* * *

After dinner, Jared hides in his room, where Jamie draws his bed. They're nice enough to let us stay with them. I suppose it's because we're pretty much the last of the humans.

I find Tobias in the kitchen, eying the kitchen knives. I lean against the kitchen table and say, "I highly doubt they have any dartboards around here."

"I wish, huh?" he says.

I clear my throat and decide to just ask him. Just ask him, and not let it burn inside me for one more second.

I know he didn't mean anything by it. But the feeling still lingers.

"Why were you talking to Melanie after we had gone to sleep?" I whisper.

Tobias turns to me. He clears his throat, and says, almost blankly, "She was crying."

I feel startled.

"Because she missed Jared and Jamie. Because she didn't know if Sharon was going to be alive or not. If they were going to make it out alive." He smirks. "I would think you better to not get jealous, Tris."

"I'm not jealous," I say. "Just curious."

"Of course," he says.

I raise an eyebrow. "I mean it."

"Of course you do, Tris." He grins. His smile makes me lighten. "Of course you do."

**WE'VE FOUND JAMIE AND JARED, WHO IS MY LOVELY BUDDY. Please review!**


	9. Oh, Look, More Relatives

**Thank You, God, for everything.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Divergent or The Host. It's Sunday again! UPDATE. **

I don't recognize the people that drive up. If they're even people. I hope they are. I'll feel rather alarmed if they turn out to be Souls, but they drive up in a regular dark mini van. They don't look at all like Souls as they step out, but Tobias holds a gun at firing point and Jared says, "Who are you?"

A tall woman with long light grey hair in a braid steps out. A woman with pink hair and a pale complexion gets out of the other side.

"I'm human," the older woman says. "I swear."

"Who are you?" Jared repeats, not happy.

I look to Christina in the doorway. She's gotten leaner, slenderer in the month we've been here. Wanderer is hiding behind her, shivering. She looks to me and says, "Are they Seekers?"

She's afraid of her own kind?

"No," I say.

She nods and I turn back. The older woman says, "I'm Maggie Cole. Is my nephew and niece in there?" She yells, her voice raspy and annoyed, "Jamie, Melanie, get out here!"

Nobody moves. Then Jamie steps out. He blinks. "Aunt Maggie?"

"Jamie," she says. She nods her head. "Come here, boy."

Jared nods, and Jamie goes to his aunt. She gives him a side hug with one arm. "You got old."

"I know," he says, almost uncomfortably.

Maggie pats him on the shoulder and steps forward. She looks stern. "Where's my niece? Where's Melanie?"

"She's a Soul," Jared spits.

Maggie looks instantly angry, grey wrinkles crinkling in her skin. She must be past fifty. "She WHAT? What happened? And who are you, anyway?"

"That's Jared, Melanie's boyfriend," Jamie quickly volunteers. He looks to Jared, who visibly winces, "Or . . . was."

Jared straightens. "How did you find us?"

"Map. Followed the car trails. Didn't look like the regular tracks. We thought we found humans in Chicago. We managed to find ya, after a month." Maggie sighs angrily. She straightens. "Where's that Soul?"

"Inside," Jared says.

Maggie lets go of Jamie and hurries to the door. She doesn't look like she's messing around, and I know instantly what she's going to do.

I step in front of the door, making Christina raise an eyebrow at me. Maggie has to tilt her head to look at me. She frowns. It seems fit into her face, like it's natural for her to be frowning.

"Get out of my way," she hisses.

"You're going to kill Wanderer," I say quietly.

"I'm going to go kill that parasite that killed my niece," Maggie snaps. "So get out of my way. That thing doesn't deserve to live, never mind get protected by you."

I shake my head. I won't let her, I won't let her kill Wanderer. Not after what she's been through. "She isn't dangerous-"

"She's a Soul. They're all dangerous," Maggie says. She notices something on my shoulder. A corner of my long cut. It left a long, jagged scar that Tobias likes to run his fingers over at night.

"They cut you," Maggie hisses. "Are you sure there's no Soul in you?"

I burn at that. Tobias steps forward, but I say, my voice harsh, "At least I have enough soul in me to be human, to know that killing an innocent girl who has done nothing to us doesn't deserve to die!" My torn fingernails push against my skin as I form fists.

"She's one of them-!" Maggie starts.

"So?" I say. "That doesn't mean she's bad! She hasn't done anything justifying her death!" and I hurry into the cabin, brushing quickly past Christina. My head pounds with anger as I hurry through.

"Wanderer?"

I find her and kneel across from her.

"Is that Sharon?" Wanderer whispers.

"Pink hair?" I say. "Yes. And Maggie?"

Wanderer gulps. "Melanie's aunt." She takes in a breath. "They want to kill me, don't they?"

I nod. She sighs.

"I'm just causing unrest here, aren't I? I'm not making anyone happy by being here. Jamie . . . doesn't like me. Jared hates me. You and Tobias are the only ones who can tolerate me. Maybe . . ."

"Don't," I say quickly. No. I won't let her die. I won't let someone else die. Not in front of me. And not even for a good reason. Besides, I couldn't save my mother. Or my father. Or Caleb. I don't want anyone else in my life to die, and to be powerless to stop their death.

"How are they supposed to stay here with me, though? Jared cares more about them because Jamie cares about them. He'll want them and not me," Wanderer says.

"I won't let them kill you. Tobias won't either," I say firmly. I fall back on my knees and clutch them to my torso.

Wanderer lets out a sigh.

I can only hope I'm right.

* * *

That video was right. There were humans who killed. Were. Are. Who thirsted for blood. Now thirst for blood. They are scarce, but still on Earth.

Tobias and I tail Wanderer everywhere just so Sharon and Maggie don't try to go after her. They glare at her all the time, eying the kitchen knives. Jamie looks at them nervously when they do that. Like now. I gently take them and shove them into a drawer. I plant myself in front of the drawer. This earns a nod from Jamie before he turns in his seat.

Maggie is at the kitchen table with the other humans. She spreads out a map she has on her.

"I know Jeb. I know where his caves are-" She stops and looks up, a murderous glint in her eyes.

Wanderer walks quietly out of the room and sits in the living room. I can still see her from my spot. I can get to her easily if Sharon turns with a knife.

Maggie turns back to the map. Jared, Uriah and Tobias lean over it with her. She runs a finger about a bunch of squiggly lines. There's red and blue and orange and yellow and green lines running around the map. It's all messed up in my brain, but Maggie seems to get it. She explains to a the route, to where Jeb's caves are. Apparently her brother made a habitable cave in the desert. She is sure that that is where he is now.

"And if he isn't," Maggie says, rolling up the map, "we'll still have the caves. It'll be safe there, away from any of the filthy parasites with their silver eyes, who want us to be 'healed.'" She sneers the last word, throwing a filthy look at Wanderer, who shrinks into the couch.

Jared doesn't say anything for a moment. When he does, it's in a low voice. "When are we leaving?"

Maggie smiles coolly. "Whenever we want."

Jared lets out a sigh and turns to Tobias. "When are your people ready?"

"At any time," Tobias says.

Jared nods. He looks at the ground for a moment, and then back up. "Fine." He straightens. "We leave in two days."

* * *

We have no problems communicating back on the road. It's simple. Maggie drives ahead with Sharon. Jared has his own car, and follows her with Jamie and Uriah, who decides to tag along with them. The boy likes Uriah.

Hector stays back with us. He doesn't leave Shauna's side at all. She has to stay in one spot all the time, but he doesn't mind. He also doesn't say a word as we drive along.

Wanderer sits in the back, fearfully looking ahead. She barely talks either. I sit next to her, feeling like I have to be right near her, even in our own group of humans. Christina still hasn't warmed up to her. She sits up front next to Tobias. She looks out the window all the time, watching for Souls to come around.

* * *

It takes maybe two total days to find Jeb's caves. His descriptions are hard for even his angry sister to decipher. We stop and camp at night. I volunteer to take the first shift. Christina takes it as well.

"Tobias," I whisper near to his ear. "Stay with Wanderer."

"Don't worry about her," he says.

Good. But even his reassuring voice does little to quell my fears.

Christina doesn't say a word as everyone turns in for the night.

The darkness comes soon enough. The desert is cold at night. It's nearly fall now. There's no leaves to fall away, crinkly and dead, around here. Nothing but formations of rock and orange sand. Sand everywhere. I shuffle in it as I walk around the cars.

Christina comes around a car. She looks inside, though. Not around for Souls. But at Wanderer.

"Be careful, Christina," I say.

She turns to me. Her face is calm but stern. "Are you threatening me, Tris?"

"Are you threatening Wanderer?" I ask.

"A Soul? Really, Tris?" Christina says. Hisses. She points to Wanderer. I can see her frame against the window, her breathing cool and even. "Why are you even protecting her? She isn't Melanie!"

This hits me, and before I can think of what I'm saying, I say, "Is she?"

"What?" Christina says. "She isn't Melanie, Tris. She's been taken over by a Soul."

"But . . . hasn't she . . ." I say. I don't know what to say, and now thoughts flood my mind. Images of Wanderer staring off into the distance, like she's listening to someone we can't see. Someone hidden away.

I straighten. "Why do you think Wanderer pays special attention to be nice to Jamie?"

"Her Host has past memories and feelings for the boy. It's a remnant reaction," Christina says.

I scoff. "Remnant reaction? Christina - what if . . . she remembers? Just, what if she's influenced into allowing her own feelings to feel for Jamie? It isn't like she's acting like Melanie regarding her aunt and cousin."

"According to Jamie, Melanie was indifferent to them before, just like Wanderer," Christina says.

I sigh, let out a breath. Fight the urge to come back with a sharp retort. I don't need to hurt Christina anymore, and I'm shocked by my own assuming of things. What am I even assuming? That Melanie is still . . . there?

"If that's what you want to keep telling yourself, Christina, do what you will," I say. I turn away to finish my rounds and avoid her for the rest of the shift.

The thought remains. It stays and snuggles into a corner of my mind, and that's why I keep looking to Wanderer. Almost like I'm looking for a reaction on her part of Melanie somehow still being there.

But that's impossible. For the human to live while the alien is in the body, it's impossible.

Isn't it?

* * *

We find the caves. Maggie does, anyway. She looks so angry at Wanderer every time she sees her, but doesn't kill her the whole trip. We pull up. Maggie stops, though, making the other cars stop.

She stomps out and demands for Tobias to lower the window. She glances sharply, quickly, like a cat, around the car, and spots Wanderer.

"Blindfold her," Maggie demands.

"Why, exactly?" Tobias says calmly. Too calmly. I can see his right hand flexing in and out. In and out.

Maggie scoffs. "Do you want her to escape and lead the Seekers here?"

"She could have done that when she brought us to Jared's. Led us to the Souls instead of the humans," Tobias says quickly.

He loses the fight, though.

I carefully tie an old rag around Wanderer's head. She says she doesn't mind. She looks nervous but doesn't say a word as I tie it around her. I feel bad as I fall back in my seat.

Maggie is satisfied and leads us through the sparse desert a minute or two more, until we reach a large cave, its front covered completely with dark orange but mostly dark purple rock. A large hole sticks out on one side. It's hidden from sight behind a line of rock, but Maggie leads us out to it like she knows the place. Tobias and I keep to Wanderer's side, holding her hands to guide her. She stumbles, making Sharon glare at her.

Maggie walks through and says, turning to us, "Get your guns out."

"Why?" Tobias says. He voices all of our wondering. "Your brother will actually attempt to shoot at us?"

Maggie nods. "We'll sure as hell startle him, that's for sure. Drawing the guns on him first will make him think before he shoots the first living thing that comes through his door."

This Jeb sounds almost paranoid. But not irrationally. Not in this Soul stealing world. I touch the gun at my side and remember it as we travel through a passageway. It's dark. We should have brought flashlights. Tobias and I constantly guide Wanderer into walls. She doesn't say a word or let out a pained exclamation. I know we're hurting her, though. She should at least say "Ow."

The rock crumbles under the touch of my hand. This entire place is rock. Carved out or hollowed rock. The air echoes with our footsteps. My breath sounds haunted. It's breathtaking.

I have no idea where we're going, and neither does Tobias. None of us do, so we follow Maggie like a lifeline.

After nearly ten minutes of walking we come upon a large room. It's strange to see a garden in the center of the room. There's greenery and clay-like dirt. It looks relatively well done. Tobias looks up and I follow his gaze to see in the ceiling a series of mirrors. Their light reflects down onto the plants.

I let out a sigh of amazement. Underground agriculture. How the Amity would have been pleasantly surprised, the Erudite intrigued.

There's humans standing around the room, I realize. Real, actual humans, who stop their work and stare at us, stunned.

Maggie stands with her hands on her hips and hollers, "I'm Maggie Cole, and where the heck is my brother, Jeb?"

A man comes out of an entranceway. He has gray hair and a long beard. And a gun. But that's nothing against our guns. I touch mine in my waistline as Jeb says, surprised, "Magnolia?"

"Jeb," Maggie says. She steps forward and receives a hug from him. He chuckles as he pulls back and says, "Well, wasn't expecting ya."

"You thought I was dead? You should know better than that, Jeb," Maggie says. She turns and says, "Sharon."

"Sharon," Jeb says, shaking her hand.

Maggie nods to us and says, "People we've met along the way. Jamie," this is stern, "come forward. It's your uncle Jeb."

"Jamie? Hey, kid," Jeb says. Jamie nods and Jeb says, searching our group, "Where's Melanie, then? She's with you lot, isn't she?"

"No, her inhabited body is," Maggie says sharply. She gives a curt nod to Tobias and I, to Wanderer with her blindfold over her. Her hand shakes in mine. She can hear the biting words.

I tighten my grip.

There's immediate shouts from all around the caves. Humans protesting the incoming Soul. Wanderer shudders, and I don't know if it's from the fear she can sense. It's Tobias's grip tightening around her. That sends fear through her, that he feels the need to protect her even more.

Jeb settles his eyes on Wanderer. "The blindfold. Smart," he says.

"My idea, Jeb. Can never be too careful with these parasites," Maggie says patiently.

Jeb nods and waves a hand. "Bring her here."

Tobias and I share a look, a look that sends me a sense of trust from his dark blue eyes, and we step forward. Wanderer walks with us. Everyone watches as we approach Jeb, not releasing our hands.

"Let go of her. I'm not going to hurt her," Jeb says.

A minute passes. The man meets my eyes. His look kind. His human eyes look so human that I trust him to not shoot her, even if he has a gun in his hand. He was Melanie's uncle. I know he won't kill her body.

So I step back. Her hand slips out of mine.

Tobias stands next to me after he undos Wanderer's blindfold, revealing her silver eyes. This causes more shocked protests and exclamations. I straighten, bouncing on the balls of my feet, ready to fight anyone who tries to go after her.

Jeb takes her in for a moment. Then, "When did you take over my niece's body?"

"A little over a month ago," Wanderer says.

Jeb nods. "What's your name?"

"Wanderer," she whispers.

"Why is-"

A man steps forward, one with black hair and blue eyes. He looks so mad.

"Jeb, why are you speaking civilly to it? Kill it! You have the gun!" the man says.

"Kyle, stand down," Jeb says. He points the gun at the man, who takes a step back, though not without a look of pure hate on his face. Behind him is a man who looks almost exactly like him. Slight height difference, different lines in his face. And he's not frowning or looking so angry.

"What are you going to do with her, Jeb?" Maggie says.

Jeb puts his gun down and leans against it. "Now, I don't know about that, Maggie. She's not mine to order around."

"But it's your house," the man who looks like Kyle points out.

Jeb nods. "True, Ian, but I don't have authority over her." He looks through our group and says, "I'd say that that authority would be Jamie's."

Jamie looks startled. He says after a moment, "What about Jared?"

"Who's Jared?" Jeb wonders.

Jamie nods to him. Jeb shrugs. "What about him?"

Jared sighs. "Look, can we discuss this somewhere private?"

"Why? The thing needs to be dealt with. Everyone here in the caves needs to know what happens to it," Kyle says.

I tighten my grip around my gun.

"Kyle," Jeb says without looking at him. He nods to Wanderer and says, "That was your girl?"

Jared simply nods.

"So there's two claims on her. All right. Then it's Jamie's and Jared's decision as to what happens to Wanderer," Jeb says. He says in a quieter tone, "It's your choice, boys."

Jamie looks anxiously from Jared to Wanderer. Jared sets his jaw.

"Do they really need to decide now?" Uriah wonders.

"Not necessarily," Jeb says. "But I'm takin' a feeling that there's a bunch of impatient humans wanting something done. First time we've had one of them in the caves."

Jared nods after a moment, and he looks at Wanderer, his eyes burning into her back.

Jeb nods. "Come along. I'll take you all on a tour of the caves. Gonna need to carve out more rooms outta the rocks, though. Wasn't expecting so much company."

**He he he. Oh, and I published a book. Please go and check it out on my profile. It would mean SO MUCH. Thank you for reading!**


	10. CAVES

**Thank You, God, for everything.  
**

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own The Host or Divergent. He he he. **

My head hurts. The caves are so full of twists and turns that we all would have gotten so easily lost if Jeb wasn't leading us. Tobias and I hang in the back of our group, watching Wanderer. Luckily for her, Maggie and Sharon take to the front with Jeb. The siblings talk in quiet, short tones as we make our way through the hallways.

It's almost like exploring an entirely new faction, a place you've never been that's a large part of people's lives.

The rushing water fountains in the bathing area gurgle and flow, like the water falling down into the chasm. It hits me hard how I miss the compound, but I ignore the feeling. They've cleaned that place up now. No more spots of paintballs everywhere.

I suppose there won't be any more suicide attempts at the chasm.

Jeb shows us the bedrooms, which there is a severe lack of.

"I was planning for us to do planting tomorra, but I'm game to start at carving rooms. Y'all can bunker down in the game room until then," Jeb says. He shows us the game room, which is large, about the size of a field. I take in the circles in the ceiling with the mirrors to see the light flashing down to the game room. It's an amazing idea.

Jeb talks proudly of his caves. He made it, he says. He must have a touch of Erudite in him. Along with Amity, him not letting Kyle get his hands on Wanderer. And Dauntless, walking around with that gun.

I would bet that Jeb is Divergent.

I feel them immediately. The stares. The stares full of human eyes and held in protests and anger. Hatred. Something I haven't seen from other beings in a while aside from my party.

The faces are set all about the kitchen; it's silent, except for Jeb's talking. He waves a hand over us, introduces us each in turn. Even Wanderer.

"A Soul?" a woman with a grey braid says.

"Yes, it's a Soul, Trudy. Wanderer, this is Trudy." Jeb points out a few men. "Aaron, Reid, Brandt, Geoffrey," and he continues around the kitchen. The place has a couple of tables. A large container of water. A large fire for an oven. It's dusty but clean. There's containers all stacked up in one corner.

Jeb turns to us and says, "Well, that's about everybody. Not too many of us. I guess you've nearly doubled us."

Jared somehow smiles at that.

Jeb smiles and says, "We've got a lot of chores around here. We've got the rooms to do and planting and kitchen duties. But don't any of y'all worry. We'll figure it all out." He turns to the kitchen. "Let's eat. I suppose I'll show y'all the hospital tomorrow."

He throws a look at Wanderer at that.

I wonder why.

* * *

We sleep in the game room. It's dirty amongst the blankets, but I get to stretch out my legs. I still need room, despite taking up the space of a child. Still, looking at Tobias's sleeping face, I wish there's more privacy. It's hard to talk to him when there's so many people around us.

His breathing is even, and he's so calm looking. It's eerily strange, to see him so quiet. His lips aren't set in a line, but are slightly curved at the edges. He has stubble all about his cheeks, framing the chin, making his cheekbones look softer.

He looks so old for being eighteen. He looks nothing like Eric had. Eric still looked a teen, someone he would forever be, seeing as he died at the age of eighteen. Tobias has been forced to grow up faster than Eric.

I wonder if I look older.

He lets out a groan. Opens his eyes. It's like waking a great animal from slumber. There's a second of deep stillness, where I can look into his eyes, get engulfed in their depths. They look like they've seen so many grave things. And they have.

And then they widen slightly. He's probably surprised to just see me watching him sleep. It reassures me to see him in front of me, like if I don't keep an eye on him he'll just disappear, gone from my grasp.

"Can't sleep?" he says. His voice is heavy. Husky with sleep.

I nod my head. "There's so many people in here. It's strange, almost." In the cars we weren't intimate in a way we had our bodies. We stretched over the seats and slept like a pile. Here there's a separation. Not a large one, though.

"To find there's so many people hidden away? To know we're not the only humans left on Earth?" Tobias says.

I smirk. "We would have been able to fix that problem."

"Really? Our alternative plan was to repopulate the Earth? Never told me that," Tobias says lightly.

"Just came up with it, actually," I say. Our conversation is light; we're not taking this seriously. Besides, that would be crazy, to repopulate the entire Earth with just us.

"It's not a very sound plan," he says. He cracks a bit of a smile.

"I'm working on it," I say.

"How? I've just been told. Haven't been involved," he says.

"So maybe it won't come into fruition," I say.

He frowns. "What won't?"

"Us repopulating the Earth," I say. "Probably won't happen."

"Oh, yeah," he says. His eyes glance away from me for a moment. My heart pounds and I hope he can't see the blush coming to my cheeks. He looks disappointed. He knows we just can't create that many humans, right?

He turns his gaze back to me. His eyes are turned tender. He reaches out two fingers and brushes a lock of hair out of my face. His touch grazes across my skin, burning a path in their wake.

"You know, despite what I've said," he says after a moment, "you are beautiful, Tris. Not in the traditional sense. But that's how I see you. It's the way you carry yourself, the things you do, that make you beautiful, Tris."

I don't blush like I expect myself to. I instead let his words fill me, and wonder why he's telling me this. I furrow my brows, and he says, surprised, "You don't like that?"

"No, I do," I say. "It just seems . . . out of context."

"Out of context? Where's the best place to tell your girlfriend that she is beautiful than late at night, laying right next to each other?" Tobias says. He raises an eyebrow.

"Okay," I say. It just seemed to come out of left field. Was it something I said beforehand? We were talking about repopulating - NO.

I had inadvertently brought up the idea of having babies.

I hadn't meant to do that.

Hopefully, he isn't remembering that now as he looks at me. A moment passes, and he whispers, "We should probably get some sleep. Big day tomorrow."

"Every day is a big day tomorrow," I say.

"I know." He waves with his hand, a common gesture to me now, and I slink against him. A position I'm used to. His arms around me, his head against my head and shoulder. My legs parallel to his. I expect myself to be scared now, his body pressed against mine, but I'm calm. I've done this so many times with him. He's just Tobias. He's trustworthy, and surprisingly has some morals. That's more than I can say of some people, human or Soul.

* * *

It's strange how easily we fall into a routine in Jeb's caves. He shows us the hospital and introduces us to Doc. He's friendly. A bit too much, almost. His eyes linger over Sharon, who stares back at him.

His hospital is merely a few beds along with a desk. Some containers line one of the walls. Some are clear and holds medical tools. Unsanitary. Very much unlike the Erudites. Wanderer looks around, scared, and Jeb puts a hand on her shoulder. She stops shaking when he does that, surprisingly.

"Don't worry, girl," Jeb says. "You're safe here. We're not going to be trying to get you out or what."

They can do that? I suppose not. Or else they would have led her directly to the surgery. Maybe it's our guns that kept them from doing that. Or maybe because Wanderer does mean something to Jared and Jamie. And I suppose Jeb.

Later that day we crack into the caves' rough walls. Within a month we've got eight new rooms. In the meantime, we all squeeze into the other rooms. Nobody wants to be with Wanderer, though, so I stay with her in the game room, despite everyone's looks.

Tobias doesn't say a word about it. I know he doesn't want me halfway across the caves. But he knows that I have too much Abnegation in me to leave her alone. Not when no one wants her.

I get a room with her and Christina. Christina has now a tolerance for her, like everyone else in the caves does. It's strange, always walking with her and feeling the stares. Wanderer doesn't say a word about it, though. But I know. She's scared. Especially when Kyle O'Shea looks at her like prey. He's the older of the O'Shea brothers. He doesn't try anything, though. Not when I'm around her. Which I always am, when I'm not working. And he knows I have a gun.

I pointed it at his brother's heart, once.

Ian and Aaron, led by Kyle, had approached us. Threatened Wanderer. Brushed me off. And once Kyle had Wanderer between his hands, I turned and pointed my gun at Ian's chest. The two brothers look almost like Eric. Not too long hair, but the same color. No rings, but the same arrogant smirks.

I turned to Kyle, who had his grip loosened. Wanderer had her hands on his, which were around her neck.

"Let go of her and never touch her again or I will blow your brother away," I said.

"Jeb would kick you out," Kyle argued.

"You too. For killing Wanderer. And I'd be the one with the gun, once we're kicked out," I say harshly.

He had let go of her at that - and never touched her again.

Those boys and pretty much everyone else in the caves don't talk much when Wanderer is around. Their conversations automatically stop when she comes near them. I try to ignore them, but I feel their glares and stares on me as well. For being with her, protecting her. For not shunning her like everyone else.

* * *

Tobias kisses me a lot more.

I don't know if he does it to make me feel not so alone. I don't know the reason, but I don't care. I love his kisses, his soft skin, the way he's so much nicer than everyone else. He doesn't judge me for being with the pariah. He always thought himself a bit of a pariah, different than everyone else. He works besides me and walks me to the washing room sometimes, so I don't have to walk the long length alone. He joins Wanderer and I at the table when we eat.

And so, eventually, does Jamie. He's curious, I think. About having a girl alien inhabit his sister's body. He's done with his grieving. Jared isn't, but he is. He's interested in her. That surprises me, but his interest is welcome. He smiles with her. Asks her questions. And she smiles, looking happy when he's nice to her.

I think she just wants to be liked. She reminds me almost of Marlene, though the two are/were total opposites in the social stance. Marlene was always so well liked. It would be strange to not like Marlene.

And everyone hates Wanderer. But Wanderer and Marlene look like they could have been sisters. More than Marlene and Shauna did. Shauna stays a lot in the kitchen, making bread on one of the tables or jostling Isaiah or Freedom, the two little children, on her lap. Their mother is appreciative for her help.

Everyone's looks at Wanderer remind me of Shauna and Hector toward me before. When they discovered I was Divergent and thought I was ridden with a special power that I would use for evil. And I'm not.

They're scared of Wanderer, but she is the most gentle Soul I've ever met. Literally. She doesn't say a word of complaint when she follows behind me to the fields, which we all work in after the caves are done. It's prejudice, I suppose. And they won't let her be kind to them to show them how she isn't what they think she is. She isn't a bloodthirsty alien trying to take over their bodies. But they don't care. So she doesn't say a word.

Until Jeb asks. One day. It's after supper. Field work's done for the day. Wanderer's off collecting dishes to wash and Tobias and I have the table to ourselves. Jamie's off talking with Ian, who sits next to Aaron, Andy, Paige, Jared, and Kyle.

She's about to carry the dishes away to wash them when Jeb says, looking up from his cup, "Hey, Wanderer. Why don't ya tell us a story?"

She stops in her tracks.

Stories? What stories? I straighten in my seat. Has she been wandering around the caves, as her name perceives?

Or does her name of 'Wanderer' have a real meaning behind it?

An alien wanderer. Of the different worlds and galaxies of our universe. Tobias looks interested as Wanderer hesitates, saying quietly, "I don't know if they want to hear about it, Jeb."

I want to know, though. I don't care that she's a Soul. Neither does Tobias, or Jeb, or even Jamie as he says pleadingly, "Oh, come on, Wanderer. Please? Just one story?"

"Which planet did you come from last?" It's Ian's voice. He's leaned against a table, his hands clasped together in front of him, his lips set together. To my surprise, interest is obvious on his face.

Wanderer barely says anything, but then she looks to him, and she explains. Jamie goes up to her and encourages her, and she goes on.

Maggie and Sharon and Kyle leave. They're disgusted by her. Kyle is especially vocal about it. How the alien is impregnating our minds with lies. Filth. Making us sympathetic to her.

They're the only ones that leave, though.

It's strange. Tobias and I and Christina and our group have only known that the Souls have existed for a few months. We've somehow warmed up to Wanderer. Gotten more used to having Wanderer's companionship. To me, she still holds a remnant of Melanie. It's still her body. And she's . . . she's as assertive as Melanie was. Sarcastic. Her smile looks the same.

And then the new people, like poor Jared and Jamie and the ones who have lived in the caves for a while. They haven't warmed up to her yet. Not really at all. Jared still stays away from her. I catch him, though, staring at her from afar. It's still Melanie's physical appearance, of course. The ghost of that haunts him. Like the ghost of Caleb haunts me.

But it still surprises me that Sharon, Maggie and Kyle are the only ones to leave.

**Speeding things along. This follows The Host a bit, with the caves and all.**

**Thanks for reading! Please review!  
**


	11. Kyle

**Thank You, God, for everything.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own The Host or Divergent. Please review, people!**

I let out a breath. My hands are sweaty. It's getting to be winter here, but I'm still hot all over. Working in the fields gets you warm. The sun beating down on you directly.

It's almost lunchtime. I should be heading to the kitchen. Wanderer is there, making bread as usual. She's gotten into the duty of making bread in the day and baking it at night. She talks at night, telling stories at Jeb's, Jamie'sand now even Uriah's insistence. Uriah is warmer to her than Christina, but not so much as Tobias. He likes her stories. A lot.

I head along the halls of the caves. I need to wash my hands. Dust coats me. I cough, the dust making my throat all scratchy.

This seems hard until I feel fingers against my neck. My body thrown against a wall. It feels harder to breathe now.

I choke, and memories come flooding back. The face in front of me flickers from Kyle's to Tobias's, his eyes cold and hard. And then it's back to Kyle, who it really is. His hair is darker. His features become distorted as I can no longer cough. My vision has spots. My throat feels like I'm having a thousand people's fingers pressuring against it instead of one.

"You must feel pretty safe, hiding behind a gun and a pretty boy, huh, kid? You're not much, you Soul sympathizer," he hisses. His hold on me tightens.

It's because of Wanderer. But I hold no resentment against her for it. All my resentment is against the man killing me. The weak man who wants me gone for being nice.

He's dragging it out. Wanting me to suffer in my last moments. And I try to scream, but it's hard to scream when you can barely breath.

I close my eyes. I don't want to see the face of my murderer anymore. I feel so defeated, so deflated. And it's the Dauntless in me that wants to fight back, to claw at him, but I feel as helpless as I was the night Drew, Al and Peter attacked me. Powerless.

That's a loud noise. A punch. I can recognize that noise anywhere now. And the pressure releases, and I slump against the ground, get cradled in arms. No sweet nothings are whispered in my ear, but I know who it is who has me. I can recognize his hold and gentleness with me anywhere. My Tobias.

There's voices. Dull ones that fade in my head. I'm laid on a bed. Harder than my blankets. I must be in the hospital. It's the only place I can think of.

Something is applied to my neck. There are gentle hands on me. Doc's hands. Tobias's hands. And yelling. Loud voices that pound at my head. And I hear a voice above the rest, a worried one. "Oh, Tris." It's Wanderer.

Then another one. Christina cursing. Wanting to know what happened. And then more shouting after she moves away.

And the voices fade. But two things remain. Two hands holding either one of mine.

* * *

I stir slightly, and the hand holding my left one tightens, and his voice breaks out. "Tris. Tris. I'm going to kill him."

I open my eyes wearily. It's surprisingly dark. I had thought it would be glaringly bright. But it's not. It's nice.

I can see his shadow in the dark. I squeeze his hand back, and whisper, "You'd do that for me? Right now?"

He sighs. "Probably not. He's in a bed right next to you, though. Plenty tempting."

I groan. "Why's he in a hospital bed?"

"Christina punched him. Her Dauntless training won out and knocked him out," Tobias says. He sounds impressed, and proud. She really listened to him.

"Wish I could have done that. Maybe he wouldn't have tried to strangle me," I say.

"He'd still try to get you, though," Tobias says.

"And what can we do about it? Maybe if he shoots me, Jeb will send him out." I grimace for a second. The bruises hurt when I speak. "He won't be able to hurt Wanderer then."

"You're too self-sacrificing, you know that?" Tobias says. His thumb rubs the back of my hand. It soothes me, that he's just paying attention enough to do that. Calm enough. "He'll be dealt with, though. There's going to be what is called a tribunal in the game room."

Tribunal. For some reason, it reminds me instantly of Candor. How their faction, or tribe, gathered to hear Tobias and I under the truth serum. How they're there to be judged.

I gulp. And wince. "When?"

"When you're better. When you can breathe properly." Tobias glances over toward Kyle. "I really could kill him now, though. When he's all quiet and asleep."

His hold on my hand feels warm, but I remember my other hand. I slowly turn my head to see Wanderer leaning her head against the cot I'm laying on. Her eyes are closed, her breathing even. Asleep. And she looks like Melanie.

Her hand holds mine protectively.

"She's been here since they brought you in," Tobias says. "Doc told her to go get some sleep. She did."

I want to smile at that, but my muscles in my face pull at my throat. Will it be this difficult, always, to breathe? I just want to breathe.

Tobias says, after a moment, "She isn't like the others. The Souls, I mean."

"Wanderer?" I whisper.

"Yes," Tobias says. "She's . . . she fits in with the rest of us. Almost like a human." He lets out a laugh. "Strange to think of, isn't it?"

"I've noticed that," I whisper, my voice more hoarse than ever. I close my lips.

It's been creeping around my mind for a long time. That Wanderer acts too much like Melanie, is so human-like, and, looks off every so often when she thinks no one is looking. Like she is listening intently to a conversation. A conversation no one else can hear.

I need to ask someone about it. And this is a good of a time as ever to speak to him. When we're practically alone. I can now see the faint light of a flashlight in the corner where Doc is. I can barely make my voice even quieter than it already is as I say, "Tobias, have you ever thought that - maybe - Wanderer-"

"Isn't as murderous as we think?" I feel startled by the calmness in his voice.

"Yes," I whisper.

He flashes me a look then. No smile, his features set to be thoughtful, his eyebrows drawn. "You think that Melanie still might have retained her consciousness inside Wanderer?"

I cock my head slightly. "Are you sure you didn't have an aptitude for Erudite?"

"Just because I'm naturally smart doesn't mean that I'm as intuitive or knowledge thirsty as the Erudite," Tobias says. "It's just an observation of her behavior combined with a likely conclusion."

And he says he doesn't sound like an Erudite.

"How long have you had this on your mind?" I ask. My voice cracks at the end.

"A few weeks," he says. He reaches out and brushes a bit of my hair behind my ear. The back of his hand gently goes down the length of my throat, barely touching me, fearing to cause me even more pain.

"How long did the bruises from my fingers stay on you?" he thinks aloud, almost to himself. I feel almost shameful hearing them.

He takes his hand off for a moment. He glances at Wanderer. "Should we tell her we know?"

He sounds so certain that I believe in that theory more now than I did asking him about it. I shake my head. "If it's that obvious, everyone will know. I hate to think that Jared can't have Melanie when she's barely there."

"How does us telling Wanderer hurt anyone?" he says.

"I think she wants it to stay a secret. More people knowing it will lead to more dangerous people finding out about it and acting upon it," I say. My muscles contract and I can't help a groan that rips through me.

Tobias says, "Okay. Fine. Get some sleep, okay?"

I weakly nod. When I drift into unconsciousness, the only thing I can hold onto is his hand.

* * *

Tobias and Wanderer help me along to the game room two days later. Doc and Jeb follow behind us, Doc to watch me to see if I fall over or not. Jeb has his gun to tell of his purpose to be with us.

It's dark in the shadows, burning bright in the sunny areas. I take a seat against the back wall with Tobias and Wanderer on either side of me. Wanderer has been with me for the entire time, not daring to leave me. I know she feels responsible for Kyle trying to murder me.

Christina plops on the ground in front of Tobias and I. She looks almost cheerful as she turns to me. "Hi," she says. "Feeling a bit better?"

"I'll live," I say in reply. I cock my head. "I heard you knocked out Kyle."

She nods enthusiastically and Jamie falls beside her, nearly blocking Tobias's view, though he doesn't say anything about it. The boy nods enthusiastically as well. "Uncle Jeb was so mad at him. Ian was mad at him, Aaron was mad at him, everyone was. Christina was the only one who actually punched him, though. He deserved it, Ian said. Because you were being nice to Wanderer and didn't need to get nearly killed." His tone subdues slightly.

Wanderer looks worried about Christina punching Kyle, but no one says any more words as Kyle comes in, shadowed by Brandt and Reid. He has a shaded bruise upside his jaw. A lovely dark mark. If that had been on me, Tobias would have wanted me to wear it proudly.

Jeb stands up and says, "Well, I suppose you all know why I've called a tribunal here today. It's on the account of the attempted murder of Tris Prior. The charges are against Kyle O'Shea."

I think I hear Ian mutter to himself, "As usual." I crack a smile at that, despite myself.

Jeb turns to me. "Tris, you can testify to him trying to strangle you?"

I nod. My eyes fall on Kyle. He looks nervous. Slightly, anyway. He was caught. I suppose he wasn't counting on that.

Jeb turns to Tobias and says, "Tobias, you found Kyle. You hit him and took Tris to the hospital. Do you have an input on this?"

"He's guilty," Tobias says emotionlessly after a moment. Wanderer looks at the ground as he looks to Kyle. He doesn't look at Tobias. "Guilty as hell."

"Okay," Jeb says. He looks to Kyle as well. "Looks like you've gotten caught, huh, Kyle? Got anything to say in your defense?"

"I don't know. Maybe that we shouldn't have traitors living with us. Never mind traitors, but that parasite." He looks directly at Wanderer.

"Don't make this worse for you, Kyle," Ian says quickly, glaring at his brother. Kyle shakes his head, dismissing his younger brother.

"Whatever," Kyle says. "I rest my case, Jeb, and I think you should rethink about who you allow to live in these caves."

"I allow anyone I want to, Kyle. And you're not high on the list at the moment," Jeb says. He looks around the tribunal, his eyes taking everyone in. "This is my house, and I make the rules. One of the rules is that if you break the rules, you have to get a trial. This is one, and there'll be a vote. While the unanimous will not always win out, I will take the majority vote in mind." He spits a wad at the ground and says, "Show of hands. Who wants Kyle out of the caves?"

No hands raised. Except one. Tobias. I don't know if my hand is supposed to be up, so his hand looks small and all alone.

"All right," Jeb says. It's almost in a sigh. That they would want to save the attempted murderer instead of sending him out. It sends a thought through me; how the images on the video from the Erudite building are wrong now. So totally wrong. This shows that the humans are forgiving, and willing to give even Kyle a second chance.

That doesn't mean I'm happy, though. He reminds me of Peter; taking out anyone who displeases him. Who goes against him.

His eyes glare back at me. I do what I've learned from Tobias. I stare him down. Until he looks away. And I win.

"You're staying with us, then, Kyle," Jeb says. He waves a hand quickly to the exit. "Get out of here. I don't wanna see ya for the rest of the day." His hand tightens around his gun. Almost like a warning.

Tobias helps me stand up, his lips set in a straight line. Jamie chatters excitedly next to me. Wanderer answering him back with light answers. I barely hear them. I look up at Tobias, but he doesn't say a word. I know he's angry, feels the unfairness, but there's nothing we can do. Jeb's word is law around here. He just tightens his hold on me and we head to the exit of the game room.

I realize that I was wrong, then. This tribunal was far more like Amity than Candor.

Jeb stops Tobias and I. "Tobias, Tris. Christina, come here."

I'm tentative, wondering if we've done something wrong. I don't know what to think very much at all. We join Aaron, Jared, Andy, Brandt, and Jeb in a corner.

"We've got a raid coming up, and we were wondering if you all would like to come along," Jeb says. His expression is expectant as he looks to us. He has warm eyes that are also appraising.

"A raid," Tobias says, echoing my thoughts. "How long would that take?"

"A few weeks," Aaron says. "It's getting cold out, and we need to stock up. We do go out in the winter, but there's more snow then. We're running low on a lot of things. Need to head out soon. You all coming with?"

I've grown - we've grown rather good at raiding Souls's houses. Tobias and I were always good at getting in, getting out. A good team. One on the lookout, the other snatching. While we were never very proud of our tactics, we couldn't do anything more. More and we'd be snatched by the Seekers and 'Healed'. A pleasant thought.

"When are we going?" Tobias says.

"In three days. Prep and stuff," Aaron replies.

Tobias meets my eyes. Their watery greyness must tell him something. He looks back and says, "Fine."

Christina agrees, and we separate. Wanderer has run off with Jamie, and Christina goes to find Uriah to tell him of the news. So it's just Tobias and myself walking down the hall.

We're mostly quiet, absorbing the thought of Kyle's trial and our new job at going raiding. Tobias doesn't say a word, though I can feel the heat of anger burn off his body. He squeezes my hand. And he also doesn't say a word about me being strangled and then going off to a raid several days later. He knows I'm strong. That I won't be treated to stay at home. That I need to get out into the action, to get things done, to feel.

He understands that without either of us saying a word.

**FOURTRIS. And it seems that the self-sacrificing ones are always the ones targeted. Thoughts?**

**Thanks for reading! Please review! **


	12. Look At All the souls We Give

**Thank You, God, for everything.  
**

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own the Host or Divergent. **

Kyle joins us on the raid. Jeb says to a heated Tobias, "I trust you to keep an eye out on him. 'Sides, I don't want to see him for a bit. He's been eyeing Wanderer. He needs time to cool off 'fore he does something all of us regret."

Jeb's rules.

We take two of the cars. I'm in the jeep with Tobias, Christina and Brandt. Jared, Kyle and Aaron are in Jared's pickup, Aaron driving, for he and Brandt know the route we're taking.

Kyle has to be separated from me. For all our sakes.

I don't mind. I'd rather not even go on a raid with him, but he's being forced out. And I need to learn how to work in the outside world with these people. So we barely tolerate each other.

Jamie promises me that he'll take care of Wanderer while I'm gone.

"I'll hang out with her. Maybe Uriah will hang with us too. We'll have fun." Despite him being a thirteen-year-old with an alien against a group of humans, I believe him. I want to. He's an eager little kid, more open than Hector, who stays with Shauna all the time.

We travel through the desert. Get more dust in our lungs. Stay away from the major cities. The entirety of the country is calm, actually. Neighborhood streets and grocery stores. It's quieter, with less tension than the factions had had. But with the boys and Christina, the only thing there is is tension. And no privacy. I have to bring Christina with me everywhere. Not that I mind at all. After punching Kyle, she's more cheerful towards me.

"You didn't deserve that at all. For just being with her all the time? Pathetic excuse. He's just another Peter," she says. And Christina and I know how to unite together against Peter.

I wonder about him. Occasionally. Wonder if he was ever caught. 'Healed.' Or if he is still human. Still alive. I actually think him being inserted with a soul is a good punishment for him. Replace his evilness with something calm, something that doesn't want to do harm but only what they think is right.

That was what the faction leaders had thought when they had made us into factions. But they just divided us all. Starting with the factionless.

We have bags on us. Take the houses at night. Stalk them to make sure the souls inside are out. Take two houses in one night, us divided. There's a special whistle that Brandt had made. We use it to communicate. A toot has to be followed with a toot from the other group. Or they're captured by the souls, and the remaining humans have to bolt out back to the caves, keeping care to not use the same route they had used to get there. Keep things squiggly. Go not in straight lines.

It's a soul-eat-man, man-shoot-soul world. This is our world now. No factions. Sneaking around from aliens.

Not what I thought my life would be like the day I left Abnegation. I had thought of many ways my life would go in Dauntless. I never thought this a possibility of my future.

And here is my reality.

* * *

We steal more than food. We learn something about the humans we've joined.

They kidnap souls.

It's for Doc, Brandt says. It was the doctor's idea. After all, the humans don't want to survive. They want to beat the aliens. They want their people back.

I was at a loss for why they wanted kidnapped souls until Brandt continued.

Doc wants to operate on them. Try to extract the soul from inside the human. Bring the person back. Back to the living.

"Has he been successful?" Tobias asks.

Brandt sighs at that. "It's a messy business. Remember, the souls are the ones who die-"

"'Die?' The operations haven't worked?" I say. My voice is squeaky.

"We would have introduced you to the humans we've saved if we did. No. Doc has done nearly fifteen operations, and none of them have worked. He's been trying, though. He — WE all want the humans back. There's no point in trying to live if we can't have our people back."

"So you kidnap souls, get them under the metal, and Doc ends up killing them, having not found a way to get the soul out without harming the body?" Tobias asks. His voice doesn't sound angry. Or annoyed. Or interested. But blank.

"Yes. Remember, though. They're ALIENS. They're not human. Their blood runs grey," Brandt says.

I'm a little shocked. And I shudder. I remember when Jeb had shown us the hospital how uptight Wanderer had been. She thought they were going to try to take her out of Melanie's body. But they can't. Doc hasn't figured out a way.

And they don't want to mess up Melanie's body when they don't have a method. They won't be using her body as a guinea pig.

I lean forward, so I can see Brandt and Tobias in the front seat.

"Is that why they haven't killed Wanderer yet? Because they want Melanie's body?" I ask. My voice echoes in the quiet van. We're traveling at nearly eleven o'clock at night. There's no other cars running down this road.

"Probably," Brandt says.

So, if Doc somehow finds a way to get the soul out of the host, they're bound to operate on Wanderer to get Melanie back. And Wanderer. . .

"Will Doc try to save the soul?" I whisper.

"Don't know for sure. Pretty sure not. Why would we want those got-dang souls to live? No," Brandt replies.

Tobias straightens. Stiffens, more like it. He's thought of it, too.

They'll kill Wanderer to get Melanie back. They might find a way to get the human to live but the soul to die. That'll be fine for the humans.

But not for me.

I fall back in my seat against Christina, who looks indifferent about the entire affair, her eyes following the desert passing us.

Doc would have been an Erudite.

* * *

They resist. Like we have. But like the souls have taken over and subdued Earth, we subdue the souls. One screams and falls over. Jared pronounces him gone.

"What?" I whisper, my hands holding up the arms of a young woman. She has slanted eyes. She reminds me of Tori. I try to swallow the bile filling my throat.

Aaron gulps. Almost uncomfortably. "Sometimes, when they know they're going, the soul kills itself. It scrambles and dies."

It'd rather be a soul than be taken by humans. Like we would be the same. I have a pill in my pocket from Jeb. We all do. Get captured and pop the pill. I feel like I'm in enemy territory when we're out on the country. Like in Erudite's headquarters.

"There's got to be another way!" Tobias says. To take the souls and save the humans.

"Think of one. This is the only way they've thought of," Jared says, his voice harsh. His face is stoic as he looks at the bodies littering the floor of the house. A family, probably. The bodies look similar. The father's gone. The rest have had a knock to the head. Passed out before they could resist.

We can only hope they stay knocked out long enough for us to get them back to Doc.

It sickens me, nauseates my stomach, as we drag the bodies, practically corpses, back to the van. Stuff them in the back. With their eyes closed, it's like they're humans. But they're not. They're like the enemy. Like the Erudite.

But the Erudite are gone. All souls now. Still enemies. Not themselves.

I try not to think, once I'm in the car. Aaron and Tobias set bags of food next to me, and I shirk away from them. I feel horrible, like a kidnapper. And we're not we're not we're not we're not we're not. We're trying to save this family's bodies. Eradicate the souls out of them. Save their lives.

The father lost his chance at life. They lost one.

We killed him.

There's a lot more urgency to get back to the caves. We picked up the bodies a few dozen miles away from Jeb's caves, as close as we could to them. The place feels packed. Christina and Tobias have to share two seats with me. I end up on Tobias's lap. His hand grips my wrist and just holds it.

We take the cars right up to the entrance. Jared turns to me as Aaron and Tobias start to open the truck. He sighs and says, "Look, can you go inside and distract it?"

"Distract what?" I say. I, of course, know to who he is referring to. But I don't like that he is doing that.

"I — the soul," Jared says. He looks to the souls getting unloaded and says, "She might freak out and kill herself if she sees this."

He doesn't want her to kill Melanie's body. I don't want her to kill herself or Melanie.

So I walk first into the caves, already knowing some way around the curves and juts of the dark stone. I only trip once. Then I start running, knowing that the boys and Christina will be coming along quickly.

I enter the large plaza. With the down setting sun and the mirror nearest the center of the ceiling, Jamie looks up from where he's kneeling in the dirt of the garden and runs to me, nearly toppling me over. He's my height but heavier than I am. I'm lucky I don't fall over.

"Tris, you're back!" he says excitedly.

I nod. His arms are around me in a big hug. I don't think Caleb has ever given me a hug. Maybe a reassuring pat on the shoulder, a smile. But nothing like the joyous affection of Jamie.

He pulls back and says, "Did everything go well?"

"Yep. We didn't lose anyone, and we probably won't have to go out for a while," I say. Any of humans, anyway.

He grins and starts tearing toward the kitchen, yelling, "Wanda, Wanda, they're back! The raiders are back! Hurry!"

Ian comes out from one of the caves' many entrances, looks to Jamie, spots me. He looks a little uneasy. He takes a spot a few good feet away from me. I see my gun against his heart in my head.

"You brought more back?" he says, his voice barely a whisper.

I nod.

He lets out a queasy sigh. "Okay. Do they need help lugging them over to Doc's?"

"Probably," I say.

He nods and looks to the kitchen. Then back to me. "You're going to go distract Wanda?"

"Wanda?" I am definitely not one to be surprised when people change their names, seeing as Beatrice Prior is gone. I'm more surprised as to why she has changed it. "When did that happen?"

"While you were gone. You all were gone for a few weeks, that's enough time. Jeb decided to call her that. Shorter, quicker. Sorta stuck," Ian says. He turns his body and looks up when Jamie comes hurrying out of the kitchen, dragging Wanda out by the hand. She looks brighter than she had been before. It must have been the absence of Kyle and Jared.

"Tris, you're back," Wanda says. Her voice is light.

I nod, and am about to start wondering what to say next when something hard pushes gently against my back.

"Here. You and Wanderer can take these into the kitchen," Tobias says , his voice low.

"Oh, I can help," Jamie says. He takes one of the boxes. Ian looks at him with a smirk. "Heavy enough for ya, kid?"

"I can handle it," Jamie says. Wanda smiles at him and she and I take the other boxes into the kitchen. Tobias shares a glance with me as I disappear around the corner. I see his glance go immediately to Ian, who walks out of my sight.

Jamie talks animatedly as we unload the boxes onto the counters. Two of the humans, Trudy and Heidi, come to help. They even talk kindly to Wanda, which is strange to me. They were so off her when we had left. Things have changed. Obviously. And for the better.

But Wanda is finished and turns to me and says, "Where's Jared?"

"Unloading things," I say. My words are quick, hasty.

"We can go help him," Wanda says.

"They've got Aaron and Ian and Kyle helping. Might as well stay away from him," I say. My heart pounds. What if she were to find the souls? Would she kill herself? Like Al? So quick?

Wanda looks past me for a moment. Melanie. Is she speaking to her?

After a moment, she faintly smiles and says, "All right. Want to go back to our room? Get you some new clothes?"

I look at my dust covered clothes. I nod, and she smiles harder.

The main room, the cross section for all the caves, is surprisingly normal looking. None of the men are dragging bodies hurriedly over to the hospital. Walter is squatting over a bunch of plants, weeding. He smiles faintly at Wanda, and Geoffrey calls over to him, "Want to go lie down, Walter? Don't want you to get stuck in that position."

"I'm fine," Walter says. Though, he looks like he's pained. I've heard from Jared that he has a bone cancer spreading through him. Going to take him out in a few months. The inevitable.

Wanda and I head through the halls. I look at the ground, my feet behind hers. I know the feeling. Of knowing my days are numbered, but not how many I have left. It's scary, knowing but also not knowing. Just knowing that it was coming up. The day of death.

The cave I share with Christina and Wanda is at the end of a long line of caves. I collect my clothes and Wanda offers soft conversation as we walk to the bathing room. There's no doors to the caves, so we usually go in pairs to stand guard. After being caught in the Dauntless rooms wearing barely any clothes, I don't want any strange people seeing me naked.

I slip into the dark room as Wanda takes her place outside. The entire place is black. The floor is dark and smooth. When I feel wetness but no dip, I know I'm near the water. Discarding my clothes in a place I can remember, I tiptoe forward, bracing myself for the dip.

I find it and slip in. After completely covering myself, I come up. While I don't have an irrational fear of drowning, I try to stay above the surface whenever I can. I find the rough cactus soap. It's disgustingly slimy and burns against the skin. But I like that. That's a cleansing pain.

I scrub my body, fill the place with the sounds of splashing. I call out to Wanda, and she says no one is coming up. Good. I know she won't lie to me. Christina would, just to tease me. Not Wanda, though.

As I pull on my clothes, I say, "Wanda? Is anyone there?"

There's no reply.

I call louder. No reply.

I look to the entrance, the slight doorway with a spill of white light. I don't see her at all.

Now I'm worried.

I pull on my pants and picking up my shoes, hurry to the entrance. "Wanda?"

She's not. She's living up to her name.

She has no reason to run off. She usually keeps her word. She must have noticed how amiss everything was. The tension, the silent looks, the jerks of a head. All these have added up, and she's too curious for her own good.

I run down the passages, my wet hair slamming against my neck, my barefeet slapping against the dusty ground, screaming hurriedly for Wanda. To come to me. To find me. To stay away from the hospital.

I nearly run into Christina and Uriah. "What is it?" Christina says.

"We need to find Wanda. She's gone wandering," I say. My eyes travel to the direction of the hospital.

"Shit," Uriah says, and we split, calling for Wanda.

I'm in one of the long caves, near the storage area, when I hear it. The screams. The screams of horror, of pain, of disgust, of shock. A scream I might have screamed at seeing my parents get killed in front of my eyes. But I didn't.

Tobias runs past me, towards the hospital, and I immediately follow him. He already knows what has happened. Everyone has.

I stumble into the hospital, and am disgusted as well. There's silver blood spilled over sterile tables. Body parts everywhere. Hair dyed with blood. Doc is really an Erudite. He's dissected the bodies for information. Like Jeanine would have.

He's in a corner, looking miserable, looking between his drinks on his desk and Wanda, who is shaking all over, her face incredulous, her eyes filled with horror, her hands trembling. Kyle, Jared, Andy, and Aaron are stock still amongst the dead. Uncertainty is across all their faces.

"What's happening to her?" Ian yells, demanding.

"What the hell?" Kyle mutters.

Jeb stands in a corner, looking as shocked as I've ever seen him.

Men.

I step forward, hurry to Wanda, avoid the bodies. "Wanda! Wanda! Calm down!" I say.

She just lets out another shriek and wringles out of my hands' grip on her arms. Her body is bigger and stronger than me, and startled, I'm shoved a few steps back as she flees from the place. Tobias immediately runs after her.

I turn to the rest of them, my hands in fists. Kyle says, scowling, "Great job, Tris. Way to keep her distracted."

"Hey, I wasn't the one who thought it a good idea to bring back bodies and tear them apart!" I say. I glare at Ian, who looks aghast. "Why didn't you keep a guard at the entrance, try to keep her out?"

"We thought she was with you," Ian says weakly.

"You all are real subtle," I say, my voice laced with disgust. I can't control all of Wanda's actions. She ran off and there was nothing I could do about it, and they can be more subtle with their surgery. Try it at night. Or just tell her, carefully, calmly. The way nobody has told me anything since I left Abnegation.

I shake my head, take a step back. "I'm going to go find her." I turn and stalk down the passages, anger burning in me. Why did we have to bring those souls back? Why?

**DUH DUH DUH. I know this sort of happens in the book. But it had to happen here as well. I don't own it. It's all Stephenie's. :)  
**

**Thanks for reading! Please review! **


	13. Soccer Game!

**__****Soli Deo gloria**

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own the Host or Divergent. :)**

I find Tobias first. Near a storage area, which we use like a pantry. He's squatted outside it, his lips pressed in a fine line. He looks to me when I come around the corner.

"Where is she?" I whisper.

He flicks a hand toward the storage area. She's found shelter away from everyone in a little hole in the wall. I literally mean a little one. I'm often the one sent in there to dig stuff out. With my small frame but strong muscles, I'm easily able to help out in that regard.

"She won't talk to me," Tobias says. "Won't come out when I ask her to. She just shirks in a corner. Shaking."

"You were on the trip," I say. "You helped with the kidnapping."

He lets out a grunt. "Then I suppose you're out of the question as well."

"Maybe Jamie," I whisper.

Tobias shrugs and sighs. "He's a human. The kid probably knew about this kidnapping. I highly doubt any human can make her come out."

He and I sit there outside her cell, leaning against the dusty walls. His legs spread out before him, straight. No point in going back to the men in the hospital when we've got no good news of Wanda. She's . . . she's been traumatized. And I wonder what I would be like if souls viciously killed humans.

But they already have. They've been killing humans for years.

And besides the ones I know, I feel indifferent, almost. I don't like the souls. They've killed. But I've killed. Tobias has killed. Christina. Uriah. Zeke. We're all a bunch of murderers.

I wonder what would happen if Judgement Day came along and did away with all of us.

After a few hours, when it's dark, footsteps approach us. Tobias and I look up to see, to my surprise, Ian. He looks a little startled to see us, but he says, "You found Wanda?"

Tobias nods.

He takes a few more steps towards the hole and finally squats in front of it. Setting a hand against the cave wall, he says quietly, "Wanda?"

No reply. At least none Tobias and I can hear.

"Wanda, we should have told you. Wanda, we're sorry. I know that was traumatizing for you, and I'm sorry you had to see that. Murdering your species. I'm sorry, Wanda."

There's no reply.

Ian straightens and walks away, muttering something about getting her supper or whatnot.

Tobias and I exchange a look. A look that expresses what we both know and feel. Ian's trying to be nice, but to what end? If even I can't get to her, a person who's been sympathetic to her, there's no point in trying.

* * *

Ian is not Kyle. Not in the slightest, it seems, besides their family looks. He's calmer, not so angry and monstrous.

And he's very persistent.

He goes in and sits a bit away from Wanda, his arms wrapped around his legs in order for him to squeeze into the tiny space.

While Jeb wants us to leave her alone to mourn properly (Doc agrees with him, looking miserable with bloodshot eyes), the three of us have started a little stakeout next to her hideaway.

Ian takes up the rest of the room in the cell for two bodies to be able to fit in, so Tobias and I lean against opposite walls. Christina comes by on occasion, usually taking a seat and sitting with us for a while, asking for a report. Something we barely have.

Jamie and Jared sit on the other side of the entrance, though the latter is always scowling, looking like he has been dragged there. Jamie sleeps against his shoulder.

Heidi and Trudy come by with trays for us. Jeb comes with his gun, and while he doesn't comment on us betraying his rules and waiting for her to come out, he pokes us with his gun and tells us to move along to do our chores.

I'm in the kitchen now, with Wanda no longer beside me. I finish quickly, easily able to make the bread with the muscles I've developed, and then rush back to the storage area. When we have breaks or are done with our shifts, we go back and sit near the storage area. A boring place that does nothing for any of us, but we do it just the same. Stubborn humans.

Sharon looks at us all with disgust when she comes by and practically drags Jamie away to do his lessons. On occasion Geoffrey, Wes or even Walter comes by, asking if there's any progress. Paige passes by us with a slightly distant eye, though she often cranes her neck to look into the area.

Kyle and Maggie stay as far away from this place as possible.

Wanda eventually does come out. After three days Ian goes way in, and an hour later he emerges, gently helping her out by the hand. She looks disheveled, bedraggled, her hair tossed about, her silver eyes lined with red.

Ian looks at us all. He scoffs. "All right, everyone get back to work. Get."

He sounds a bit like Jeb. The old man's need for rules is being shown in him.

Even so, we leave willingly. I just wanted her out. To see her. We hadn't been able to hear anything in there. That doesn't mean that Ian didn't somehow ask her to come out.

And it's strange. That he's the one who got her to come out. Not Jared, who tried as calmly as he could, talking to her but received no reply. Not Jamie, who nearly begged. Not me, who whispered pleadingly for her to come out. But Ian. The brother of the man who wanted Wanda dead and gone.

This world is so strange sometimes.

* * *

There's another raid a month or two later. I don't go on this one. Jamie does, though, and asks me to specially stay with Wanda, since Kyle is staying behind.

So I listen to him, and am alarmed when he comes back with a large wound in his leg. Wanda looks horrified as he comes limping under the arms of Heidi and Ian over to the hospital.

"What did he do?" Wanda wants to know.

"Kid played around with a knife," Ian says.

"I'm sorry, I said that already, Ian," Jamie says, sounding as irritated as I've ever heard him. Still, he looks dreadfully optimistic about the wound as he gets dragged onto a metallic table for examination.

Nobody worries about it, least of all Jamie. Well, Wanda might be worrying. I've seen too many wounds to get really riled up about it. Besides, Tobias reassures me, Doc says he'll be fine. He's growing up. He'll spring right back to himself and start to annoy us all as we start more winter crops.

It's busy in the caves. Jeb wants to plant broccoli and carrots to accompany our regular crops. Doc wants them because we need more vitamins. Ian just wrinkles his nose at that and says we can get vitamin supplements the next time we go raiding.

"They don't have them, remember, Ian? They don't need supplements for anything," Jeb says, spitting on the ground. He's like an overseer in the fields, but with a hoe that he uses to break up the ground. Tobias, Christina, Brandt, Reid, and I break the pieces of ground he breaks it up.

We finish with the winter planting. The weather is cool here in the caves. Still, we walk around in T-shirts and rolled up pants. Sweat covers our bodies. Even mine, even though I barely heat up, being so small.

Jeb watches us as he collects the gardening tools. A thoughtful look fills his eyes and he says, "Hey, I just got an idea."

Everyone groans. We all know Jeb has his set of rules. Another rule added to his list will just make us all a lot unhappier.

"Y'all are real chipper," Jeb says, chewing a wad of tobacco. He spits and says, "I was thinking along the lines of a soccer game, but if you lot don't want to do somethin' like that . . ."

Wes's and Ian's faces lit up. They actually glow, almost, and they dart out of the fields, hurrying and yelling about getting a ball or something.

Wanda walks over to me, looking around the cave, and asks, "What exactly are we doing?"

I explain. From what I know, anyway. We didn't play soccer in Abnegation. It was indulgent and wasn't helping anyone. It divided the winners from the losers, and the Abnegation did not make anyone feel like losers. It was selfish to win while others lost.

Christina explained it to me, how they used to play it in Candor. With strict referees making sure you didn't cheat and everything was fair. Peter, apparently, was good at it. But, as Christina said smugly, "I beat his butt a large number of times."

We pick up water bottles and head to the game room, where Brandt is hurrying past us to get to. I finish my water bottle, feel it crinkle in my hands, when Wanda stops in front of me and looks off into the distance.

She shakes it off after a moment and turns to me. I'm tempted to ask her if she was talking to Melanie. But I stay silent.

"Poor Jamie," she says. The boy is in his new bedroom, which he shares with Jared and Aaron. The hospital was too cold to him. He has a bandage on his leg now. Reminds me of when Christina had her leg bound up.

I wonder if Tori's leg is perfectly healed now.

"I'm going to go sit with him," Wanda says. She walks past me, and Ian almost slams into her, running in the opposite direction.

"Wanda. Where are you going?" he wonders.

"Jamie," she says, pointing ahead of her. "He's all laid up. I don't want him to be lonely. He'd want to play, and I—I don't want to play."

Ian frowns at that. He turns fully to her and says, "Come on. I'll carry the kid to the field. He can watch. Even be the scorekeeper."

"You'd do that?" Wanda asks, surprised.

"On one condition," Ian says. "You're on my team."

I turn away then, feeling like I'm in too much in their personal conversation. I force myself to take steps forward.

I carry ahead slow enough to hear Wanda consent. When I look behind me, they're gone. Gone to fetch Jamie so he won't feel left out.

The game room has a large field. It's not very green, but the dust doesn't pick up. Wes has the ball, and he bounces it up and down on his leg. Grinning, he kicks it to Lily, who kicks it to Tobias. He bounces it around clumsily before he quickly takes it off to Christina. She completely shows off, bending her leg back and keeping it bouncing off her back foot. She kicks it over her head towards me. It rolls and stops a few inches from my foot. I look, startled, at it. It's black and white. Perfect colors for Candor. I've never actually seen a soccer ball this close. I saw a couple in the Candor building when we were avoiding the Erudite. They were being used by the Candor kids. I think Hector used to use it.

I must stare at it for too long, for Christina says loudly, "We're getting old over here, Tris."

A lump grows in my throat in embarrassment and I merely kick it. My foot sends it towards the entrance of the cave, and Wanda quickly captures it in her hands before it hits Ian, who has Jamie sprawling out of his arms.

"THAT'S an illegal move," Wes points out, a grin on his face.

Wanda looks startled. Ian raises an eyebrow at him and says, "Well, better an illegal move than my face smashed in."

"Hmm. I don't know about that," Kyle says thoughtfully.

Ian ignores him and goes to set Jamie by the wall. Wanda looks at the ball in her hands, studies it. Like it is something she's seen before but hasn't seen in a while. Maybe Melanie used to play soccer, and she can feel the ball in her hands like it used to be before. But it's a new feeling.

She looks up, puts the ball on the ground and kicks it over to me. I catch it under my foot and gently swish it under my foot as Jeb calls for everyone to gather around.

We're divided into teams. At the call of who wants to be the team captains, Kyle immediately raises his hand. He and Jared are picked as captains, much to what looks like Ian's annoyance.

Kyle looks over the rest of us like we're dishes of food. Which should he taste first?

I glare at him. I hope to not be on his team. He gets to choose first, though. He chooses Wes.

Jared chooses Ian.

Kyle picks Lily.

Aaron.

Brandt.

Reid.

Zeke.

Uriah.

Christina.

My palms start to get sweaty. I don't want to go with Kyle I don't want to go with Kyle I don't want to go with Kyle.

Jared picks Wanda, to my surprise. He must have seen her catch the ball, blocking it from hitting Ian and Jamie.

Kyle looks to the remains of us. He picks Jeb.

I feel slightly insulted but relieved.

Jared picks me.

The rest are picked, and we spread across the field. Wanda keeps her eyes darting about back towards Jamie, who looks very cheerful, despite not being able to play. Ian gave him the job of scorekeeper, which he thinks very important.

I'm at the side of the field next to him, and he calls out to me. "Have you ever played this before, Tris?"

I shake my head. I can do this, though. I can. After all I've been through, playing a game of ball shouldn't be that hard at all.

"It isn't TOO hard. Just keep your legs moving, even over here. It's easier to run quickly if your legs are already ready to move, okay, Tris?" he offers.

I listen to him. My short legs fidget beneath me as someone throws the ball in the air and Kyle kicks it away from Jared.

Kyle's team follows him as he makes his way down the field. I'm on the defense, trying to get the ball back towards the other end of the field. Christina lets out a shout as she runs towards me. I know she's a good player. She's confident now that her team has the ball.

"Watch out, Tris. Don't get trampled!" she shouts.

Ian rushes past me, towards Kyle. He tries to kick the ball away from his feet. He fails miserably. He tries again, and manages to fumble it out from Kyle's legs.

Tobias, however, kicks it away from him and rushes it forward. I wonder if he ever played rough games like this in Dauntless. Despite the rough atmosphere there, there's hardly any room in the compound for tossing a ball around. And I highly doubt people go up to the surface to play this.

He catches me out of the corner of his eye, but turns away from me. A smirk plays on his face. And for once, I don't want him smirking like that. It makes me smile, for me to not want to make him happy for once.

"Get the ball, Tris! Go after him! Don't let him score!" Jamie shouts.

"Thanks for your vote of loyalty to us, kid," Kyle says, running to protect Tobias from Uriah, who's got a determined look on his face. He trips, though, when he tries to intercept the ball, and Tobias makes his way down the field to where Wanda is warily walking in front of the goal.

I race after him, my arms pumping, my hands in fists. I'm not fast enough, though, and Tobias stops short and kicks the ball towards the goal.

Everyone sort of stops. Just for a moment. The ball flies through towards the goal.

And somehow Wanda is able to catch it.

Even she looks astonished, staring at the ball in her arms. Ian lets out a whoop and fist pumps. Jamie cheers and Jeb calls for everyone to get back in position.

Tobias and I exchange a look. I smile.

He returns it.

* * *

The game goes well. With Ian and Jared on our team, with Wanda as our goalkeeper, we dominate. I don't add much to the game; I just ask Jamie the score and then yell it out to everyone else. He can't project very far from his position. He keeps a hand on his leg, which looks to be paining him, despite his cheerful and bright smile. It hurts me, though.

At the end, when I turn for a final score, he tells me but then starts to grind his teeth together. He lets out a panting breath, and while everyone else goes to get water bottles and drive our victory into the face of the losers, I hurry to his side, fall next to his legs.

"What happened?" I whisper.

"It just started hurting a lot," he says, almost like he's trying to shove it off.

I've seen a lot of wounds, and this is bad. The wound is producing pus that fills the bandage, splotching it with red and yellow. His face is bright pink. I put a hand against his forehead. I instantly take it away, feeling like I've been burned.

"You're hot. Running a fever," I say. "Jamie. . ."

"Oh, come on, Tris. It isn't much," he says.

"Do you know how pink you are?" I say. I know why he didn't say anything. He wanted to stay and finish watching the game. Kid barely gets any fun around here. Still, that's nothing compared to how bad his health is going.

I immediately turn and call for Doc and Wanda. Jared passes them and crouches by the kid, shaking his head and saying, "You're really stupid sometimes, kid."

Jamie rolls his eyes and Jared picks him up like he's a little child rather than a boy taller than me.

Wanda looks alarmed as Doc checks his pulse, murmurs something about his heartbeat quickening, and the three immediately leave. Everyone stares after them, and then turn to me, wanting an explanation.

I explain, and everyone looks at each other. The fun drifts away as we file out of the game room, Jeb saying lamely, "Well, might as well start getting ready for supper. Aaron, I want that list of supplies in the storage unit. Brandt. . ."

His words are lost on my ears. I want to go see Jamie, and by the way Tobias quickly walks, I know he wants to, too. No one wants to just stand around when Jamie is laying around with an infected leg.

"I'm going to go check the hospital," he says to me, stopping us in the middle of a passage, creating a bump in the traffic.

"I'll go to his room," I say. It's like when he and I searched through the Amity compound for any surviving humans. Not many words pass between us, but we know what we're doing. What the other is doing.

I pull back a black door that looks like it was torn from a house in a blustery storm, and peek in to see Wanda squatting next to Jamie. The boy is sprawled across a mattress, a firm grimace on his face. Wanda has lines all along her face, a wet cloth in her hand.

"Found you," I say quietly. To not startle them.

Wanda barely acknowledges me. Jamie waves slightly, but then winces. "Hey, Tris. Sorry—about that."

"You can tell us when you're starting to feel bad, Jamie," Wanda whispers. Her tone sounds worried and concerned and maternal. Not at all angry. She is gentle with him.

I step closer, and she turns to me. "Doc's off to get some more cold cloths, though your human techniques will not be able to help him."

Jamie looks confused. "They won't?"

"Hasn't any of your kind died from infection before?" Wanda says in return.

Jamie looks a little taken back. Wanda's face softens. "Lie down, Jamie. Don't exert yourself."

He sighs. "You sound like Melanie." But he does so.

Wanda looks back at me. Her eyes, while silvery, no longer look very foreign and alien. But human. Full of human emotion, worry and concern over this human boy. I never thought I would see a soul look so worried over a human. It is unnatural, but makes sense.

I squat at his feet. Say the first thing that comes to me when it's evident that Jamie has fallen asleep. "You DO sound like Melanie."

Wanda keeps her eyes on Jamie. Pats his forehead with her cloth. "I do, huh?"

"Yeah," I say. I look to her, trying to coax something out of her. It's quiet, just the two of us, Jamie passed out before us. Right now, before Doc comes back. With Jared, probably.

"I know." My words penetrate the air.

"Know what?" Wanda says nonchalantly. Too nonchalantly. She knows I know.

"Don't play dumb," I warn her. "You've got Melanie in you now. I know it."

She looks to me then, keeping her eyes cast down. Like she thinks I can read her thoughts just by looking into her eyes. "How?"

"You look into the distance, like you're concentrating on something or someone the rest of us can't see, sometimes. You act like Melanie sometimes. You like Jamie too much to have an alien view towards him. You have emotions towards us humans. You're more human than other aliens," I say. I swallow, my dry throat needing lubrication. "You won't tell anyone, though. I know why."

"Why?" Wanda says, looking at me directly now. Her eyes look scared, like she thinks she's so easily readable by me.

"I was there kidnapping souls along with the rest of them. I know you don't want to be cut away, killed, from Melanie's body, if or when Doc figures something out," I say. My voice, while quiet, echoes slightly in the cave.

Wanda's breath shortens.

"Speechless?" I hear from behind me. Tobias's voice. He walks over and squats next to me. I set my jaw. "How long were you listening?"

"To be clíche, I'll say long enough," Tobias says calmly.

I hide a smile. I turn back to Wanda, who says, "I was just horrified. About . . . the mangled bodies. That you would all do that. Kill them."

It sounds surprising, but not unlike Wanda. She didn't even think to be scared for herself; just concerned and emotional over the other bodies. Selfless.

She might have made a good Abnegation member.

"You know, then?" she says quietly to Tobias.

"He's observant," I say, almost like I'm excusing his knowing to something else.

"Does anything else know?" she says. "I—I don't want Jared to know. To think I'm withholding Melanie from him."

"I'm sure you're fine. No one else has commented on it, have they?" Tobias asks.

She shakes her head.

"Then you should be fine."

**Things are like the book and some are different. Fanfiction. He he he.**

**Thanks for reading! Please review!**


	14. FOURTRIS FLUFF THIS IS GOOOODDDDDDDDD

_**Soli Deo gloria**_

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own the Host or Divergent. So I'm rereading the Host again, after narrowly saving it from being rain-soaked, and ALL THE DIVERGENT MOVIE STILLS. OH MY GOSH. **

Wanda is crazy. Just a bit, anyway. Enough to nearly cut her hand off to save Jamie, who she isn't even related to, today. She doesn't care about risks. That would put her down as Dauntless, too. Maybe a Divergent as well.

There's a lot of yelling, when she and Jared come back with their soul medicines. Christina, of all people, has a go at them for not taking her with them. Jeb stands quietly in the background, watching. I crouch next to Jamie. I've been near him a lot the past three days. When he's tossed around with his fever. When he needs something cool on his head. When he needs someone sane watching him and not Doc, who's mopping up sweat from his brow every few minutes and taking a shot every time he turns away.

Jared and Wanda ignore everyone's shouts of annoyance, especially Ian's, and hand Doc the medicines. Sharon looks at them as if they're poison.

"You're not going to put that on him, are you?" she spits.

"I am," Doc says hestiantly, opening a jar. Wanda takes to Jamie's other side. Squeezes his hand, bites her lip. I stand back, give them room. The entire small cave is crowded with people, half of them yelling at Wanda and Jared.

I walk out.

I was not expecting the two of them to go off and raid a soul clinic. Of all the things, to go out into that world with little security and then steal. Right from under their silver eyes. I'll admit that's clever, though.

I let out a breath as I lean against the gritty wall. I'm dirtying my shirt, but I don't care. Everything is dusty in here. The dust that collects in my hands that I wipe off is mud, mixed with my sweat.

"They're back?" Tobias asks, his voice slightly startling me, making my breath catch.

"Yes. They raided a clinic," I say.

"They did? And they got away with it, no soul inside either of them?"

I let out a chuckle. "Kyle examined their eyes viciously enough when they showed up. Wanda nearly cut off her hand to see it turned better." I buck my head forward. "She's in there now. Watching and making sure Doc's doing it right."

A pause. And then his voice, hard and firm: "That's Dauntless. Tactical, self-sacrificing, brave." Both of us know that Wanda isn't in it for the thrill. She's a quiet soul, always trying to blend into the background instead of being in the center of attention.

I take a deep breath, look to face him. He still has stubble all about his chin, but he's trimmed it, made it fit into him like a puzzle piece. It's almost a part of him now. Makes him look so old. He'll be nineteen in a few months. In March, he had told me.

"At least the souls have one good soul," I say. There's one who actually cares about the humans, whose Earth this is.

"They all should be like that. They're not. All the humans should be like her. We're not," Tobias says, letting out a sigh. "Almost like no matter who or what you are, you're prone to human nature."

Human nature. The nature to threaten another human to stand against a target and throw a knife at their head to prove their bravery. The nature to deceive people by mixing happy drugs into their bread. Their nature to try to comfort with a smile, a pat on the shoulder, the human nature to love, despite everything around us.

I reach out my hand and Tobias takes it. His hand is like an adult's wrapped around my childlike one, encasing it.

"But we're not all that bad," I say, my voice quiet.

He nods. A little smile tugs at his lips as he whispers a couple inches from my ear, making me smile against his warm breath, "I know. And for that, I'm grateful."

* * *

Jamie gets better almost immediately, and a new schedule falls on the caves, one that includes not too steady raids but ones that are faster and fatter. It's easy, now, to just take things from the souls. Almost laughably easy. Just send in Wanda to do the shopping and don't get caught by hiding in the dark of the vans.

This puts us in a new position. We get more things that weren't exactly mandatory before. The parties aren't as big. Usually Wanda heads out with Jared, Ian and Uriah, leaving me to bear her burden of existence from Kyle, who I learn to ignore, and talk with Jamie, who is an awful chatterbox. Sometimes I get so worn out from working at the fields that I fall asleep, my head in my arms, at the kitchen table. Jeb says it's because my body is smaller and isn't as tough. Tobias doesn't say anything about it. He knows me, and how I push my body past the limit of pain and endure through it. I've got a determination that he loves, and so I don't mind when he picks me up in his arms and carries me to my cave, lays me down amongst the cool blankets, which I want to have to be warm now that it's winter. I yawn and he brushes the hair out of my face. He doesn't smile while he does this. I know that it's because he's thinking; Jeanine almost had a set face like that, more robotic, though, but one that meant she was thinking all the time.

He studies me, takes me in, and pushes the blankets over me again. He looks like he doesn't want to go, but Christina still shares this room with me. Maybe we can find one small cave in case we find more humans, need them to take this one. Maybe we get one with just one mattress.

He presses a kiss against my forehead. My eyes are closed, but I'm drowsily aware of his words against me as he whispers next to my ear, "I'm glad you're still here, Tris."

That hurts me. To hear him say that, it's as if he still expects to wake up and suddenly find out that I've been inserted with a soul. It's a fear of his now.

I bet he would have five fears if he went through his fearscape.

He turns to leave, but I sit up, alerting him to my awake presence. I can barely see in the dark, but I can see the dark shadows beneath his eyes that isn't the dark playing tricks on me. He doesn't get enough sleep. As if the anxiety of me going out on trips kills him inside, slowly, painfully. And that's strange, to me. I'm to him a fearless little girl that he pushes to the limit. He's been softening to me.

I don't like it.

"Still scared, Tobias?" I say. My voice is sharp.

"That maybe you won't be here someday? Yes, and there's nothing you can do that can decimate that," he says. He turns back to me and kneels next to my side. His eyes are concerned, yet hard. Unrelenting.

His words, as he knows, push at me. Entice me to argue. And I take the bait. "Since when is a soul just going to come waltzing in and snatch me away to some Healing facility? I'll be fine, Tobias. And when I'm on raids, I'm with the others, I'm with you—"

He lets out a breath. "If it can happen to my parents, it can happen to you." His voice is quiet, firm, blunt.

There it is.

His parents, two of the strongest people he knows, who were cold, unyielding, selfish, who shared those traits with him, are souls. They were captured and Healed. And since they were subdued, turned into tiny, serving souls, the same thing can happen to me.

And I don't know how to handle this worry from him. This watchful, protective feeling he has for me. I'm sure other girls would appreciate it. I see it as degrading. Almost.

It shows he cares. But it also shows that he doesn't trust me enough. That he doesn't think me fast enough, strong enough, tough enough.

So I prove him wrong.

I slap him in the face.

His hand doesn't go to his face. He lets the impression of my tiny hand burn pink into his skin. The color feels like the shame I'm feeling. But I don't back down from him.

His hand is slow. I catch it in the corner of my eye. Watch it raise up and then curve to cup my cheek. It feels warm and solid, like him. Despite how broken he can be, he's like a rock to me.

A shaken hiccup escapes me. I know he can feel it. My whole mind is on how I can feel every bit of skin he has against me. How can he be so tender towards me when I'm bitter towards him?

"Don't you trust me?" I whisper.

"It's not a matter of trust. It's a matter of safety. And since you're not going to think about yours, Tris, allow me to do it, then, so at least someone is," Tobias says. He gulps. "I lost my parents twice now. Once to themselves, then another time to the souls. You know the pain, Tris. But you haven't felt it twice over."

And it's that pain that's making him more protective of me. More fearful for my life.

His finger slides across my cheekbone, wiping away a tear I didn't want to escape. "Allow me this one thing, Tris. I still believe you to be really headstrong, and impulsive, and selfless, but allow me to protect you, too."

The words "like I couldn't protect them" can go unspoken. We both know but don't say it.

I lean against my arms, sitting up, searching his face; all drowsiness falls from me. He looks resolute, trying not to crumble. So I'm first; I grip his shoulders with my hands and then he's the one dipping his lips towards mine. They're angled, but fit against mine perfectly.

I instantly tighten my grip on his shoulders, feeling like I need something stable, like he's slipping away from me. I'm pulling him closer, a prickle of fear at the back of my mind. He was in my fearscape. The one human, the one boy, my Tobias, the person I love the most in the world. Isn't strange how love can be so fearful?

But I ignore the fear, because I want to be strong for him. Not his weak girl that needs comforting but his girl that can make him feel comforted and loved. Someone that he can feel love from.

His hand grows tighter around my neck. Not like when he had been strangling me in the Dauntless compound, though. Just supporting my neck as he deepens the kiss, making my head whirl and my grip slacken ever-so-slightly.

He breaks it apart after a moment, though. I look and meet his dark blue eyes, his taste still on my lips. The taste of faded cactus soap mixed with salty sweat and that trace of mint that still stays with him.

He cracks a tiny smile. I treasure it.

"I'm going to go now. Before Christina comes in and starts up gossip," he says quietly, with sincerity. He brushes a hand against the left side of my face. Gives me a soft nod before he turns on his heel and gets out.

I lay back on the blankets, feeling more alive than sleepy now, and the silence is broken by my excited breathing and Christina bounding in, looking all grins and giggles. I'm instantly on edge.

"Are you okay?" I say.

She lets out a guffaw, nearly doubling over with laughter. "Nope—I—you two—his face—like he's been caught doing something he shouldn't be doing—"

My jaw instantly tightens. He's probably had that look on him several times then, from before. When he was growing up in Abnegation. Practically just breathing was an excuse for a punishment. I instantly say, "Can it, Christina," and I close my eyes and try to pretend to be asleep.

"What's with you?" Christina says, slightly startled, though more surprised.

"Nothing," I say.

"Liar," Christina says. She's still got remnants of Candor running through her. That trait has gotten her into many different arguments with Kyle, making him even more angry at her. He still has a wild bruise from her fist.

She looks at it proudly every time she sees him.

She lets out a sigh. "Whatever. Why're you in bed? It's still early; I think Brandt and Wes and Lily are getting out cards to play with."

"I'm tired," I say in reply.

Christina shrugs and leaves.

This is why Tobias isn't one to spill things to people. Christina wouldn't understand if he told her. She'd harden her jaw, remember her sister and mother. She's judgemental, being Candor. And so is everyone else in these caves.

That's why it hits me like a warm flood of understanding. He trusts me enough to show me the most vulnerable parts of him, even more so than when we were in the Candor compound. He's allowed himself to be closer to me than to anyone else, even his friends. He does trust me, to still care for him despite his flaws and buried secrets.

**What are y'all's thoughts on the new Divergent stills? I'm still on the, "But . . . she's supposed to be blonde . . ." train, but I'm really happy thus far. THE EPICNESS.**

**Thanks for reading! Please review!**


	15. We're Hunting for Your SOUL

_**Soli Deo gloria**_

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own the host or Divergent. :)  
**

"We gotta decide something," Jeb says in the kitchen one day. It's a cool evening; the fire's up and everyone is walking around in dusty jackets and pants. Shoe prints mark the halls and floors of all the caves.

I look up from the table I'm sitting at with Tobias, Jamie, Wanda, and Ian. I'm wearing a dark jacket and outfit. I feel like a Dauntless. Kyle says, scowling, that I look like a Seeker. Tobias looks like he might want to follow Christina's lead and hit Kyle like he's a punching bag.

Jared says, "About what, exactly?"

"About the state of our survival," Jeb says calmly.

"Aw, Ian, what did you do now?" Kyle says, looking across the room at his brother. Ian glares at him and almost visibly shortens the distance between him and Wanda. I look down. There's only an inch or so between the two of them.

"Nothing," Ian says quickly.

Kyle rolls his eyes.

Jeb looks to Wanda and then to Doc, who's emerged out of his hospital and is sitting down next to Sharon. She looks a little less pale than usual as she rubs his shoulder with a gentle hand.

"Doc," Jeb says. "Ya know what I'm thinking about."

Doc nods solemnly. "You still want to take souls out of the hosts."

Wanda pales at that. Ian squeezes her hand and says, "You can't do that. You'll kill both the soul and the human. There's no point in senseless murder."

Sharon instantly turns to Ian. Her eyes are on fire. "Oh, and so you'd rather we all limp by in the caves until the human race dies out and the souls have taken over the entire earth forever? Unless you can repopulate the earth with you and your girlfriend, which I DON'T want, that's what's going to happen."

Ian looks unperturbed as she turns back to Doc and glares at Jeb.

Jeb's eyes, however serious they are, twinkle as they look to Ian. "Do you have a better plan, boy?"

"No, I don't. Look," he lets out a sigh, "I want as many humans as you guys do. But there's got to be a way to extract the soul from the host and not harm either of them. Doc's way isn't working, so there's no point in continuing with it."

That's it, though. We haven't found a way. Doc has considered getting more souls on our raids, but Jeb has objected to it. Until now. Now he knows if he wants us to continue, he has to do something.

Wanda clears her throat just before Kyle can start talking. "I know."

"What?" is heard from all about the room. My heart pounds. I don't say a word. It's as confusing as it was with Amanda Ritter and her video. I had almost forgotten about that. But now the same confusion fills me, the wondering.

"Know what?" Jared says, standing up from his table.

"How to take out a soul without harming the host," Wanda whispers.

The news startles me. Calm, quiet Wanda knows something so dear, so informative to this group. It seems strange but unsurprising that it should come from her. And a glow of hope fills me. She knows. We can get our families back. Our persons. My brother. Tobias's parents. Tori. Everyone.

Sharon burns.

"You knew this entire time and you didn't even bother telling us?!" she spits, standing up.

"Sharon," Doc murmurs, reaching up to touch her shoulder.

She flicks him off. "You little parasite!"

"Hush up, Sharon," a sharp voice. I turn to see Maggie come in, Lucina on her heels. Both are bearing containers of bread. Maggie puts down her container with unneeded force. "Why would you want to listen to her conniving ways anyway, Sharon? Want to learn to SAVE the souls? How does ANYONE of us know to trust her? Is she even telling the truth?" The old lady's eyes burn at Wanda. Wanda stares back, not blinking or turning away.

Ian's hand reaches for hers and gives it a gentle squeeze.

Jared notices; his face tightens.

Sharon and Maggie stalk out, Maggie yelling about how she's poisoning our ears with her alien techniques and lies, and there's arguing starting as Aaron's, Paige's, Brandt's, Reid's, and Trudy's voices start to fill the air.

If I was Wanda, I'd stalk out. Get away from the angry voices for a bit, probably head to the bathing room. It sounds like the chasm there, full of rushing water. Almost soothing. But Wanda looks more defiant than ever, looking around with a slightly calm, knowing look. She has information that she is sure of, and she's not been this sure about anything before.

But it's alien. Of course she's sure of it, the same way I am sure of my own species.

"I performed the procedure before." Her voice is sure and cuts through and quiets the voices in the kitchen. Everyone looks at her.

Jeb jerks his head gently to her. "Well, how did ya do it, Wanda?"

Doc looks particularly interested as Wanda straightens and begins her story. Ian stares at her the entire time as she goes on about living on the Mists Planet and going for a walk with her friend and a guide on a mountain. How they had been attacked, and she had rescued the tiny soul from her friend's host, which had been slashed open by a claw beast. She had put it in the claw beast's body and taken it back to safety.

I stand, fascinated, at the story, and only when I look around do I see the mixed array of astonished and cold and bothered faces around the room.

Wanda sits back and looks at her hands. I can practically see a tiny voice screaming at her inside her head.

Doc, Jamie, Ian, and Jeb look interested, however, and they bombard her with questions. Despite having an internal monologue rambling in her brain, she manages to answer them the best she can. Several people are arguing now, wondering only why she's spilled it now.

It's because she wants to stay with Melanie's body, of course. And, maybe, she's afraid she'll get sent away from the caves. I wrinkle my eyebrows. I've never really wondered if Wanda likes it here in the caves. She hasn't complained. But still. She might just be ashamed to complain when we've spared her from death.

Jeb looks almost white with fury. I've never seen him so mad. He cocks his gun and yells, "Hey!" and everyone is instantly quiet. My back straightens, stiffens, like he has really shot at the ceiling. But he hasn't. I let out a breath.

"Now, how about you all just hush up for a moment? Wanda has just told us all this; I say we use this information. Apply them to her and Doc's terms, and well, dang, I reckon we can get some humans in these caves," Jeb says.

"But you can't harm the souls," Wanda says quickly, looking up from her hand. Her eyes are wide with fear.

"Of course not," Ian says. His eyes are on Wanda, are trained to attach to her. Especially when she's beside him.

"Okay," Doc says. He looks to Jeb, who nods and says, "Well, who wants to plan a raid?"

Jared has his hand up first.

* * *

"Do you really think we can get them back?" Christina asks. She's shouldering a bag, the strap digging into her skin. I'm carrying two heavy bags, both full of water bottles. The strap presses against me, but I try to not let on about the pain.

I shrug. I'm not sure, exactly. With the souls we had kidnapped, one of them had killed themselves. We're going to have to keep the souls still under during the surgery. And what if the soul dies, despite what Wanda has said? What then?

We walk the rest of the way in silence. We emerge through the entrance to the cave and follow Aaron, Jared, Ian, Wanda, Kyle, and Wes through to where we have the jeeps.

I settle in my seat with a jolt, the water bottles in the trunk. My heart pounds, my eyes glance over to Wanda. She looks oddly calm, looking out the window.

She had been walked out without being blindfolded. It was strange, but everyone, even Kyle, trusted her enough to not let her be blindfolded. We've been in the caves for months. She's just glad to be in the pure, falling sunlight.

The jeep hurries along, sending clouds of dust into the cold, bitter air. I watch out the window, my elbow against the glass. I look out, almost like I'm trying to find something. Something I know. The grey houses of Abnegation. The building upon which I zip-lined down. The crumbling remains of the Merciless Mart. My family. My parents. My brother.

To get him back, it seems impossible. But it's plausible. If all goes well, we can go back to Chicago. We can get my brother.

A lonely part of my heart is still angry at Caleb. For betraying his family. For helping Jeanine as she strapped me down to die. He wanted me to die. He wanted to be with the Erudite, those with power and knowledge. He would rather have had power and knowledge than his own little sister.

That pains me. But there's the familiar loving part of my heart that still remains with him. That wants him back, the brother of before, with the short hair and the selflessness and the awkward reassurances. The one who'd read to me at night because he was doing me a treat, something selfless. It was something for the both of us, in retrospect.

My jaw tightens. I'm conflicted, and I can only imagine more so is Tobias. His parents can be recovered. His selfish parents, both of whom had no place in Abnegation. Who neglected and abused him.

He looks out the window in the seat in front of me, his jaw tightened, his eyes looking at the window as well.

I look away. I feel like he can see me. He doesn't mind me worrying about him. But he doesn't want my pity. Has never wanted anyone's pity.

The road is bumpy. As is the road of life.

* * *

If I had the option right in front of me to pick between a human Caleb and a soul Caleb, I know my choice.

We need as many humans as we can get.

The hospital is crowded when we get back. Everyone wants to see this procedure. Doc looks calm. Wanda's sweating, but looking composed and professional as Jared and Tobias drag a body, the body of a tan man with short black hair, onto one of the sterile tables. Face down, they let go. Tobias joins me against the wall of the cave. One of my legs is bent against the dusty wall; my arms are crossed, and I bite my fingernails nearly down to their stubs, making them bloody.

I'm nervous. This might work. But according to Wanda, some hosts never wake up from the extraction. It's almost like this is Caleb on the table. Like if this man survives, so will my brother.

Her voice is calm, though, when she instructs Doc. She doesn't try to physically help him; just her words and presence seem to be enough for him. He gently cuts into the scar along the host's neck. He carefully reaches in and rubs around with his fingers. It's hard to see, from over here and through the cracks of the wall around it, between the sides of Ian and Jared, but I can see a silvery, slippery thing come out in Doc's hand. My breath catches. It's like it has tentacles, all twisting and turning around, like it's looking for a place to latch onto.

It gets slipped into a cryotank that we had fetched when we had gone raiding for bodies. It slips into the tank as easily as water flows from a river. Doc seals the tank up, and Wanda quickly takes it into her arms, looking around hurriedly, the tank cradled with her like it's a baby.

A sigh seems to come from the group as Doc finishes, putting some medicine on the scar on the man's neck. It swallows it and becomes like new again, showing only a thin pink stripe to tell what happened to it.

"Well?" Kyle says gruffly. "What now?"

"How long will it take for him to wake up?" Doc says. He sounds patient, a complete 180 degree turn from the last time he did a surgery on a host.

Wanda looks up. "It could take a few hours to a few days."

Kyle curses. Ian says, nearly glaring at him, "What did you expect? Nothing can be magically handed to you, Kyle."

"I wish," Kyle says. He shakes his head and hurries out of the cave.

I watch after him with a bit of wonder. How can he just turn mad so suddenly? It's startling how he can have mood swings as quickly as a snap of fingers. He had looked at the host with a sort of determined look in his eye, and that makes me worried.

I tell Tobias I'll see him at dinner and I walk after Kyle. I manage to find a snag of his clothes as he goes around a corner. He's carrying a bag in his hand, a packed one. I frown and follow him. Where's he going with that? It's strange.

I should go to Jeb, but I'd lose Kyle. If I yell for someone to get him, Kyle would notice me and stop. I'd never find out where he's going. So I just follow him, curious and a bit annoyed.

To my surprise, he walks out of the caves and heads to where we have hidden the cars. He's running out on us? To where? And why? Why the secrecy and by himself?

The Erudite in me flares with curiosity, and as he checks the oil on the car, I settle in the passenger's seat, panting after many miles of walking. The cars have bags of clothing we keep in there that blend well with the soul world that we don't want to get dirty with dust. They sit in the seats until they need to be used in raids. I grab mine from Jared's pickup and plop it in the back.

At the sound of me moving around, Kyle instantly locks eyes with me. He has blue eyes, but they're a bright blue. Not a dark, intense blue like Tobias's.

He opens the driver's door and says, spitting under his breath, "What the hell are you doing?"

I frown. "I could say the same."

"None of your business. Get," he says.

"And go tell Jeb about you sneaking out?" I say quickly.

He shakes his head. "You're not a tattletale."

It's cowardly to be a tattletale, but I don't care. I defy my lack of Candor and lie. "And you think I wouldn't—why?"

"Because you're too good to do that. You wouldn't catch yourself being a lap dog and kissing up to Jeb every time you see someone breaking one of the rules. Come on. You're not a rule-abider," Kyle says.

He's right about that, at least.

I settle in my seat, get comfortable.

"Move," he orders.

"No." I cross my arms.

"Don't make me kick you out," he says. "You don't have your gun on you, do you?"

I see it on the dashboard. "No. You stole it." I reach up and snatch it, pointing it at Kyle. "But don't worry about it. I have it back."

He visibly gulps.

"Now, tell me where you're going." I'm probably not going to shoot him, but I want answers, and this is as threatening as I can get. "And why alone? Why the secrecy?"

"Because of that host," he says, spitting it out like poison.

My hand barely falters. "What—what about that host? What? You were going to go on a mass massacre or something?" I have no idea, and I'm throwing guesses.

"There's a soul I want extracted from a host. A specific one. And I'm going to go get it," Kyle says. He looks the angriest I have ever seen him, like every second he wants to lunge at me, but he restrains himself. I'm the one with the gun, after all.

"Who?" I say.

He gulps again. His voice slightly trembles. "My girl before the invasion. Jodi. Now, leave so I can go get her. Leave me alone. Or do you want me to beg? Is that what you want? A huge guy like me begging to a shrimp?"

I let out a breath. "No. I don't want your begging." Begging is cowardly.

"What do you want, then?" Kyle says. He lets out a bitter laugh. "Because it looks like you can't let this alone."

"I want to go with you," I say, my voice clear and strong. I'm surprised by how strong it sounds.

He actually laughs.

"I'm not running away with you, princess," he laughs.

He doesn't take me seriously.

I cock my head. "I'm going to make sure you don't go alone. If you need help, there's me. If you get captured by the souls, I can take the car back. Tell them what happened."

He raises an eyebrow.

I narrow my brow. Try to look as determined as possible. I feel like I need to go with him. I want to see what he's doing. I want to watch. I want to be there.

He resolves finally, looking to the caves. I won't budge, not even when he tries to shove me out the passenger's window.

But he gives up eventually. I have one thing at least. A strong will.

I should tell Tobias where I'm going. He'll get himself sick with silent worry. But I have a defiant streak against him now, almost. I want him to see that I can get back from a raid, with Kyle, of all people, unharmed. That he doesn't have to worry himself into a painful state anymore. That he doesn't have to cause himself unneeded pain.

Still, I run a hand across the white scar that he always brushes with his fingertips. Maybe he does have a reason to worry.

But that won't happen again.

**A lot different from the book of the host, which I just finished rereading. Still, fanfiction, man.**

**Thanks for reading! Please review!**


	16. ROADTRIP GETTING SUNNY OH YEAH

_**Soli Deo gloria**_

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own the Host or Divergent. Thanks for looking at this, y'all!** **:)**

We drive. We drive for hours without talking. Kyle's hands on the steering wheel are tight against it, but he wears such a determined face of what I've never seen him wear. One that brings chivalry, of all things, to his face.

He must really love Jodi.

I scrunch up in my seat, watch out the window as the desert passes by. The light falls away, leaving darkness. We still drive on through the night.

I take the wheel once he's about to fall asleep. I bet that's one thing he's happy about. We'll get to her place in a shorter amount of time with me driving and him sleeping.

I follow a map he has routed out. Take all the twists and turns, shove a pair of sunglasses onto his awakening face as we enter a suburban neighborhood. It's late afternoon, with bright winter sunlight. The heater sends baking, stale air through the car as he sits up fully.

"Whhh?" he says, his words garbled.

I lean against the back of my seat. We're in an abandoned parking lot at the end of town. He has to take us the rest of the way.

"Find her house. We're in her town," I say.

"My town," Kyle says. The sound of the surprise and sentiment he holds for the place hits me as he and I trade places. He looks out over the houses and souls walking about, almost like it's a cake that he can't touch. Heaven that he can barely reach.

I try to brush it away, this new found pity for Kyle, as I pull on a big sweatshirt. The cloth smells like Tobias. It's his. He got it on one of our new, fast raids. It feels warm and is big and floppy around me, but it cushions me. It's a dark grey. Like Abnegation. It is so _him_. I pull on the hood, hide my face in it.

Kyle takes the car to outside a lovely neighborhood. It's calm, with small houses and a community atmosphere.

He settles back in his seat outside a particular house. We're kept a few yards away from the backyard of it, hidden in the shadows that are growing.

"What now?" I say.

"We wait," he says.

I'm startled. "For what?"

"For the cover of night." At the sight of my face, he says, annoyed, "You didn't just think we could waltz in there and take her away, did you? In broad daylight?"

I huff. "How do you know she still lives here?"

He's quiet at that. Then: "She wouldn't move. Not even that parasite that's taken over her body would move her." Then a moment passes. "But if she has moved, it's worth waiting out here. Just to make sure. So we're waiting."

"Sounds like fun," I say, my voice biting.

"How about you don't talk and I keep watch. That way we're both miserable in a less miserable way," Kyle says.

"Sounds fine to me," I say. He lets out a grunt of agreement and I fold into myself, like I wanted to do when I was trapped in the Erudite building but wouldn't let the security cameras see it. I hold tight the sweatshirt to me, feeling almost like Tobias's arms are around me, strong and secure and shaking, but his.

I let out a shaky breath.

"What? Something wrong, Tris?" Kyle's voice reminds me of Peter's. It's like there's two different kind of people in this world. The arrogant and the meek. They're both the arrogant. Their tone of voice says that much. It's the same tone, full of cockiness and sureness.

"Shut up, Kyle," I say.

"Hey, you wanted to come," he says unapologetically.

"I know."

"Why?"

This question surprises me. I'm not going to tell him about the real reason, of Tobias needing to let go of this unneeded worrying. Kyle's not sensitive or nice with other people's feelings. He'd turn it into a big joke, and I'd get into a fist fight with him. In a car. While we're enduring a stakeout.

I exhale. "Would you believe me if I told you I was an adrenaline junkie?"

"Don't lie to me," he says.

"I am, though," I say. My finger goes out and twists in the ties of the sweatshirt.

"Sure. Fine. If you're an adrenaline junkie, sneak into that house right now," Kyle says, pointing ahead.

I turn to it, then to him. "I like adrenaline, not stupidity."

"Chicken," he sneers.

"That's mature of you. It's supposed to be 'pansycake,'" I say quickly.

He looks confused. I smirk to myself.

We sit in silence for hours, hoping no one notices us. I fall asleep at one point, breathing in the deep scent of Tobias and how he has penetrated this sweatshirt. It feels so like him that a tear comes out of my eye. I wipe it away, not sure why I'm crying.

Suddenly I hear "Okay, let's go." I sit up, my eyes still half asleep, to see Kyle anxiously looking out the windshield.

"Now?" I say.

He throws me a look and a flashlight. "Don't wait up." He gets out and nearly bounds across the backyard to the back of the house.

I scramble into a moving position, poise the flashlight in my hand, and trip out of the car. The entire night is pitch black, except for a few lights coming off from the neighbors' houses. I look to follow Kyle, who is examining a large tree.

"What's the plan?" I say.

He points to a window in the grey house. "That's her bedroom window."

And if she isn't there, shame on us. He begins to try to climb the tree, but then falls from a branch three feet off the ground. He curses and tries again.

He's too heavy to do it, and so I say, "Let me go up."

"No. You can't carry her down," he says angrily.

I look around the yard as a lookout. It must be past midnight. The rooms' lights are out in the bottom floor of the house, and all the noise there is is the friendly barking of a neighborhood dog. I let out a yawn. Yes. Too late.

Kyle gets to a branch right by her window. He opens it, revealing a light being turned on. He enters.

There's the sound of breaking glass.

I put the flashlight between my teeth and hurry up the tree like a squirrel. I've never climbed a tree before, though I have climbed a Ferris wheel. I'm sure they had a rock climbing thing at the Dauntless compound. I wish now I had tried that, with its jagged and random holds, for my hands slip across the rough bark. But I make it up, and practically have to leap into the open window to make the jump.

I land next to a bed. The lights are off now. A broken lamp lies on the ground.

"Don't touch it. The light bulb," Kyle says warningly.

I look up to see him looking from me to a girl curled atop the bed. Black hair, a small, dark body, with big eyes. She looks so young. I thought Kyle was older for sure, but not by so much. She looks no older than eighteen.

There's no time to knock her out. She has fully seen us, and can kill herself at any moment. We're treading on eggshells.

Kyle gulps, taking her in for a moment. I find my voice first. "What's your name?"

The woman gulps, then whispers, "Sunlight Passing Through the Ice."

"What?" Kyle says, sounding horrified.

An alien name. I suppose she didn't keep Jodi's name.

"Can I call you Sunny, instead?" he asks. He sounds surprisingly gentle.

She shirks away even more, though she doesn't look scared of him. No. Curious, but also cautious. But she nods.

I take a step forward. "Sunny, I'm Tris." I point to Kyle. "That's Kyle."

"Humans," she says quietly.

"Yeah. Humans." Kyle doesn't know what to do. One of the three of us needs to command the situation. I'd rather the soul wasn't in charge, and so I'm about to speak when Sunny speaks, her voice soft. "You're the man from my dreams."

"What?" Kyle says.

"I have dreams. You're in them. They must—must be from her subconscious." Sunny's voice is so soft. How could Kyle have been with a girl so much tinier than him?

For a brief second I'm reminded of myself and Tobias, but I push that out of my mind. We're nothing like them. They're nothing like us.

Kyle lets out a breath. "Are you afraid?"

Sunny shakes her head, making her black curls go all around her.

"Then trust me," he says, and he steps forward and scoops her up in one of the bed's blankets. She lets out a little shriek, but he leans forward and whispers something in her ear.

I turn back to the window. We have to go out the same way we came in. The last thing we need is to alert Sunny's 'family' to our presence and set a bunch of Seekers after us. I reach forward and manage to grab a long branch. I use both hands on it and scuttle down the tree.

I land on my feet, braced slightly; like landing from jumping from a train. I look up to see Kyle carefully making his way down. Sunny has her arms around his neck, looking only slightly terrified as he makes his way down and jumps next to me.

He tightens his hold on her and says, "That's it. Quick," and we hurry to the car.

Sunny is carefully set in the back. Kyle arranges the blanket around her, whispering to her, as I settle in the driver's seat and buckle in. Start the car.

Kyle doesn't say a word as he settles in the passenger's seat. He's been up for the past few hours. It's my turn to get us out of here.

* * *

The sun dawns once we're in the desert again.

There's our names being called. _Kyle! Tris!_ Different parts of my mind react to this. It registers concern, and stupidity to be calling that in the desert where there can be Seekers, and worry, and guilt. But not regret.

Sunny is sleeping in her blanket. She's barely said a word to either Kyle or me as we alternated driving. He'd look at her worryingly, but she didn't say anything. She didn't kill herself. That's good. Makes this worthwhile. No Seekers came after us. Made this easier.

Kyle, holding Sunny in his arms, walks behind me as we take to the entrance to the caves. It's late afternoon, and I feel weary from the jostling of the car and the non-stop driving. I want to fall asleep. To fall and not wake up forever. But there's still the music to face.

Nobody comes to find us in the hall passage to the front door. Sunny is so soundly asleep that Kyle doesn't even bother in blindfolding her. Wouldn't do her much good, anyway. I plant my hands along the sides of the passage to keep my feet from stumbling. We twist and turn until we come into the main room, the garden in the center covered in golden sunlight.

And several humans come from the various entrances. And there's yelling. So much yelling. It makes my ears hurt and I want to crumple, but I instead stop walking. I register Christina's annoyed voice. Wanda's horrified looking eyes. Jamie's bewilderment.

And Tobias standing stock still, his lips pressed together, his face emotionless. But his hands are in fists. And they tremble.

Jeb ends up shooting at the ceiling. I barely hear the noise. I just want to go. Away from all the angry people and just go to sleep. But the look on Tobias's face, full of distrust that is stirred with something else, true fear, keeps me planted next to Kyle, who has Sunny awake and shirked against him.

"Now all of you, shut up!" Jeb says loudly. Everyone looks to him. "Don't make me shoot again." He turns to Kyle and says, "Son, what the hell were you doing? And why'd you take Tris?"

"Is—is that Jodi?" Ian says, sounding shocked. He looks from Wanda, incredulous, to the girl in Kyle's arms.

Kyle gives him a slow nod.

"Now, who here's Jodi?" Jeb wonders.

"Kyle's old girlfriend. Before she was taken over by a soul," Ian explains.

"It's not Jodi anymore," Kyle says. He looks to Sunny. "What was your full name again?"

"Sunlight Passing Through the Ice," she whispers, barely audible. Her words are lost as my head pounds. I haven't gotten sleep in nearly eighteen hours. My legs are weak, but I have to stay upright. I won't let myself fall. Not now.

"We call her Sunny," Kyle says.

"Yes. We," Jeb says, and his eyes attach to me. His hands lean on the top of his gun like it's a cane. "Now, Tris, why were you out kidnapping souls with Kyle?"

I let out a breath. I don't want to tell them all, not Sharon and Trudy and Jamie and Geoffrey and Shauna and Brandt and Aaron and Uriah and Lucinda and Carol and Maggie and Jared, that I was doing it to make a point to myself. To Tobias. They wouldn't understand. And they'd think me stupid. Thoughtless.

"He needed help," I say finally. I can barely make out words now.

Tobias's dark blue eyes flicker with concern. But only for a second.

He still watches me as Jeb says, "So you followed him and joined him and didn't tell the rest of us?"

"I was going to lose him if I went back to get you guys," I say. I take a deep breath. "Look, no one was hurt. No Seekers found out. Sunny didn't kill herself. It all went fine."

Jeb shakes his head. "That doesn't make up for the fact you two snuck off without telling anyone."

"You left us worried sick," Trudy says.

"Honestly, a note or a warning or SOMETHING, Tris," Uriah says. He looks far more relieved than he had when we had come in.

"Okay, look. I'm sorry. I should have gotten help with this. But you all wouldn't have helped. I didn't want Tris to come, but at least she was helpful," Kyle says. He glances at me. "I got home faster with her driving."

"Surely you're not going to withstand this, are you, Jeb?" Maggie demands, looking angry.

I let out a breath as Jeb continues to talk. My head pounds. I can barely keep my eyes open. And then his talking is louder, and footsteps come close, and arms wrap around me. Tightly. Too tightly. And they pick me up and start to carry me away.

I close my eyes and fall asleep in his arms, which smell faintly of mint.

**Well, whatchu think? Thanks for reading, and please review! **


	17. Wanda, Don't You Dare, DON'T YOU

_**Soli Deo gloria**_

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own the Host or Divergent. HELLO IT IS SUNDAY AGAIN AND THAT MEANS UPDATING.**

Christina greets me when I wake up. She tosses me a pile of clothes and turns her back. I begrudgingly change and then fall back on my mattress, pulling a blanket over myself.

She watches me with a mixture of anger and smugness. "Well, that shocked everyone," she says brightly. "That was Dauntless, Tris. Stupid, but Dauntless."

I nod. "I suppose so."

She explains that Tobias had stalked out once he had laid me on the bed. My heart aches, but still that fierce pride settles in, strangling and twisting my thoughts. I don't have an alien in my body. Not even a trace of Seekers on us. And he's still mad. Because I didn't tell him. Because I got mad at him for keeping secrets when we were in the Amity compound, and now I do the same that I yelled at him for.

Christina stands up and volunteers to get me breakfast, though she says at the doorway, "Jeb decided against a tribunal, but he wants you working the fields right after you eat."

I groan and fall back on the mattress.

The day passes in quiet tension. I don't see Kyle and Sunny at all. Neither Jeb nor Wanda either. Ian says passingly that they're in the hospital. That's about all he says as he angrily goes at the ground, pulling weeds. He's still mad at his brother. More mad than Uriah has ever been toward Zeke.

Tobias isn't in the fields where I work. I'm relieved, though burdened. Nobody talks to me except Uriah, who just looks relieved that I'm not a host, and Christina.

The sun sneaks away as I walk down the passage to my room. I hadn't been very hungry at supper, despite working my bones to aching. I sat with my usual crowd. Except for Tobias. He was across the kitchen, shooting me glances from across the room. His eyes aren't usually so piercing. They're deep but they pierce me like lasers. I could feel like he could see inside my mind, know my every thought, and I looked away.

Now I just want to go to bed. To dissolve and not feel this guilt that's crept up on me. For not telling Tobias.

But I like getting revenge. Unfortunately. It's selfish of me. And I don't care.

And I hear footsteps fall behind me. Ones that get closer and closer until they stop, and are accompanied with a voice that says, "Tris."

I turn. I can barely see Tobias in the dark passage. The only light that shines down is white moonlight coming in through some holes. His face is white and black and dark and shadows. He's only a foot or two away from me. His hand dangles in front of mine; he notices and withdraws, hiding it behind his back.

I should apologize. But the words won't come out. They die on my tongue, burning into me.

He clears his throat. "I was mad at you."

I can only nod.

"But I stayed away from you. I NEEDED to stay away. I was so angry at you that I was afraid I was going to do something I might've regretted. Like hit you. Hurt you. In my anger, still then, I was afraid I would turn into my father. Do to you what he did to my mother. And you'd leave me. You're—you're not a very forgiving person, Tris, and neither am I. And I was afraid that you would never forgive me for beating you and you'd leave me forever, and Tris, I didn't want that. I NEVER want that." His voice sounds a bit pleading, but still cold. Firm. But worn down. Scared. "And my anger has gone. Well, a remnant is left, but mostly towards me. Not you. Because I pushed you away to do that. Like when you stood in front of that target for Al. I provoked you, wanting to see you be strong, stronger than you think. And I know. I know that you're strong, stronger than even I know, but I was still scared. And when I'm scared, I get angry. I was scared about losing you, Tris, and I pushed you to do dangerous things to show me how much you care about me. So that's why I wasn't there when you woke up. That's why I haven't talked to you today or yesterday. Because I don't trust myself, Tris."

He trusts me. But not himself.

And I realize something.

"You told me that your fearscape had changed. Still four fears, still one with Marcus, but not the one that you had before."

Tobias nods, and says in a heavy voice, "My fear is me turning into him. I know all his moves. I easily could have his habits, his traits. And I'm afraid of that. I'm scared, I'm fearful of that."

He looks at me with his eyes so dark they look black. And he looks like he wants to say more, but doesn't know what to say.

He has revealed to me his deepest, darkest secrets. His vulnerabilities, his weaknesses, the things that Marcus probably exploited in his childhood.

Part of me wants to turn away. Too prideful to accept his apology when I feel like he's the one who did wrong toward me. But the other part, the overwhelming part, the part that loves him, wants to know why I'd rather have my pride and have him be hurt.

And so I rush to him. He grasps me against him, holding my head against his shoulder, my arms around his body, holding him to me. My body trembles against his, and I realize that he's shaking as he gently places a kiss atop my hair.

I murmur sorrys, he whispers unintelligible things. He holds my face and kisses me, with desperation and relief and I hold him to me, my love for him overwhelming the fear of intimacy. Of his hands fitting around what tiny curves I have around my body.

He breaks it off for a moment, leans his head against my forehead. He lets out a breathless chuckle.

"You're sweaty," he says.

I didn't even notice. I touch the side of my head. "I guess I am."

"Do I really get you that nervous?" he asks.

"No," I say. I press my lips against his. "You make me feel overheated."

And he holds me and kisses me, then nuzzles his head in between my head and my shoulder. His arms hold me as he lifts me up, and I wrap my scrawny legs around his taut body, gripping to him like a lifeline and never wanting to let him go.

"I love you," I whisper. "And I'm sorry."

A moment passes as he absorbs my words. Then he says, kissing my hair, "Same."

* * *

I sit on a metal cot in the hospital. Jodi is lying on a bed opposite me, her eyes closed, Sunny extracted and in a cryotank. Kyle sits by her, waiting. Doc sits at his desk, looking worried.

There's a heavy tension in the air. There's been one here in the caves for days now. The body hasn't woken up into Jodi, and Doc's worried. The human we saved, Travis, has his family back. His three sons and his wife. They're fine and healthy. But Jodi isn't back, and so even their success is overshadowed by her unconsciousness.

Jared stands in the doorway. His eyes look from the unconscious Jodi to Wanda, and I know what he's thinking. He looks miserable, but there's a sense of hope in him that I've noticed the past few days. If Jodi wakes up, there's a chance. A slight chance that maybe he can get Melanie back.

But I don't know if any of us will let that happen. Everyone has grown used to Wanda; none of us, except for Sharon and Maggie, really hate her anymore. She plays with Jamie, listens to Jeb, informs Doc, laughs with Uriah, jokes with Christina, is helpful to the entirety of everyone in the caves, is something toward Ian that I should have noticed before. I can never call these things when they happen with other people. I had barely noticed Will and Christina, and I'm sure that Caleb, not proving himself so Abnegation, had a little crush, I suppose, on Susan. I can't see things right under my nose, so I have to see them with my own eyes.

That's why Wanda is avoiding looking at me. Even her little selfless soul is a little scared of me now that I saw her kissing Ian. Just last night, in a corridor. She thinks that despite my friendship with her, I'd see her as she was in that moment. An alien kissing a human.

But I was just slightly shocked, and then I slipped away.

There's nothing here to do but wait. Get chastised by Jeb to do our chores, though he's less enthusiastic than usual. Everyone's tense; we all want to bring back our inhabited family members and get them back. It almost feels like our entire plan to bring them back is relying on whether this little host wakes up.

And she doesn't. It's a dark day in the caves the day that Doc reinserts the soul into Jodi's body. To keep her alive. Wanda allows the soul to go back and not be sent back to her planet. She stays a lot with Sunny, watching her. It's almost strange. She and Kyle stand next to each other and he doesn't want to kill her. It's almost as if they're Christina and Peter. Unbelieveable, after what has transpired between the two of them.

Everyone stays quiet, doesn't say a word when Kyle walks around with Sunny, who wakes up from her spot as if she hadn't been lying there for a few days. We no longer call meetings in secret to form raid trips, like we did when we captured souls. Now Jeb announces time for a raid when we're all sprawled about the kitchen. The room is getting small, what with the large amount of people growing in here.

"Well, after this raid, I was thinking of knockin' out a non-supporting wall and making this here kitchen bigger," Jeb says one cold November morning. I'm in a dark sweater, eating oatmeal. A regular breakfast that would have been served in Abnegation. It would have been greyer, though, and not so purple orange from the dust that floats down from the air.

I look up to see Jeb looking expectantly around the room. We all keep busy around here to get rid of the constant tension. To add to the non-successful surgery of Sunny/Jodi, Walter has been feeling sick a lot more. Things have gotten monotonous. The water has been getting frozen and needs constant supervision. It's like we're turning into Erudite robots, doing things due to routine. Hardly anything changes things up. Except when Jamie eagerly suggests a soccer game, though not many even participate anymore. Too despondent. But the boy always has Ian and Uriah and Wes playing. They're always up for playing. On occasion, he even gets Hector to play.

Jared, Brandt and Jeb get into a discussion about the wall. Wanda looks around the room. She fidgets next to me. I find this strange. She's so calm most of the time. Sunny sits next to her, looking oblivious to the nervous soul next to her as she leans against Kyle. The two have been practically bosom friends since Sunny came back. Maybe it's Kyle's way of coping. I hate to think of if he snaps from his Jodiless stupor and does something stupid. But no. He is just nice to Sunny. And quiet. He barely talks. I never thought I'd miss his stupid, annoying, insulting comments before, but our conversations are bare without them.

Wanda suddenly clears her throat and looks to Ian. He looks to the ground, his jaw tightening. I'm aware of their silent communication. A chill of dread falls down my spine.

"Jeb?" Wanda says quietly. Only those at our table can hear her.

"Jeb?" Ian says very loudly.

The room is instantly quiet.

He clears his throat. "I would like to call a tribunal."

"Ian," Wanda says pleadingly.

"Dang it, Wanda, I'm going to do it whether you like it or not," Ian says in the harshest tone he's ever used with her. He lets out a breath before straightening. It seems that he meets every pair of eyes in the room except Wanda's, which look at him with a plea, before he says, "Wanda wants to have her soul removed from Melanie's body."

I'm frozen. Shocked. The room is filled with yelling and "What?"s and cries of incredulousness. It's like back in the Erudite building where everyone is bewildered and unsure as soon as a piece of new information falls on us.

And I don't know what to say. I can only hear my heart pound in me. It's the only thing I'm aware of, save the phrase _Wanda is leaving_ pounding through my mind.

Jeb lets out a shout. That my brain registers. I automatically turn to him. As does everyone else. He looks calm, which surprises me. How can he be so calm?!

Wanda looks like she wants to melt into the ground, but Jeb's eyes fall on her and say, "You want to be taken out of Melanie's body? Since when?"

Wanda lets out a breath. "I decided a few weeks ago."

"And you're just telling us now?" Christina says.

Jeb holds out a hand. "Hey, now, everyone, calm down. Wanda has decided a decision. It's her own choice—"

"No, it's not," Ian says. He looks venomous as he looks at Jared. "He's been pressuring her. It's obvious how much he wants Melanie back. And he'd rather have Melanie than Wanda."

Jared looks angered. "Of course I would, Ian! That's still Melanie's body, and—well, Wanda never told me of her deciding to take herself out of her body." His eyes fall on Wanda with a look of hope in them. Hope. He wants Melanie back. It's painfully obvious. And I think he'll do anything to get her back, even if it means getting rid of Wanda.

"She can't decide for herself something like that. She's thinking of herself for once, and just for this once I wish you wouldn't," Ian says, looking to Wanda. The pain in his eyes is evident.

Wanda and I both look away.

He goes on. "Think of how we need you, Wanda. How Jamie needs you, how Tris needs you, how Jared and Jeb and everyone in the caves need you."

And I can tell now how he wants to add "How I need you," but can't. There's too many people in this room. Too many humans.

"So I can't decide for myself whether or not I want to be taken out?" Wanda says, sounding the saddest and the angriest as I have ever heard her.

"No," Ian says.

Silence falls. Everyone's chests fall and rise, waiting for one of the two to speak.

Neither does.

Jeb spits at the ground after a moment and says, "I reckon the both of you have a point. Wanda has a command over her body, but Ian also points out that we all need her here. So there's only one thing to do. A vote."

"And who's going to finally choose which side to go with?" Jared says, anger evident in his voice.

Jeb stares straight at him. "I do."

Jared stares back.

Jeb nods and says, looking around, "Who wants Wanda to stay?"

Every single hands raises up.

Except Jared's. But that's to be expected.

Jeb looks to Wanda. "Guess you're stuck around here for a while longer, kid."

My hand falls slowly, trembling. I wipe it on my jeans and Jeb says, "All right, everyone. We got that wall to knock down. We can discuss the raids later. Come on, boys."

He leads most of the men out of the kitchen. Tobias leans and kisses me on the forehead, and when he pulls back, we share a secret look. It's one that has no meaning, but one that we both understand.

* * *

I approach Wanda before she can escape to her chores. She's always after her chores, ducking her head to avoid gazes, doing far more work than the rest of us. No. I agree with both Ian and Wanda. She has a choice in the matter, but her voice is one among dozens.

"How long have you been thinking about this?" I say. My voice echoes in the passage.

She stops in her tracks and turns to stare at me. Something flashes over her eyes. Is she talking to Melanie as we speak?

"A while," Wanda whispers.

"How long?" I say. I sound so angry. I didn't know I would be this angry. Then again, I didn't know that she was planning to leave us. The feelings creep in when the time calls for it.

"Ever since before we brought back the first souls to be turned into humans. After I found out you humans were stealing my kind and killing them. I had to do something. So I approached Doc. Made him agree to my terms. He did, and I explained. Even then, when I was explaining, I knew. Even though I have grown deeply attached to all of you, I can't stay in this body. It—it tries to resist me, it's uncontrollable. Melanie can barely control it herself. It can only belong to one of us, and Jared wants her to have it. I want her to have it. I can't have it while she can't. And so I told myself and her that's what we do. She is torn about it. But I've made this decision," Wanda says. She looks far more determined than I've ever seen her. And the most broken. The most torn.

She has a choice. We all have choice. Like that day, the Choosing Ceremony day, when we cut our palms and let our blood spill. When we chose our factions. I had my choice then. Nobody could help me make my choice. If I could ask my parents what they thought, would they have been able to help me make my choice? Influence my opinions on things? Would their words have changed my mind?

But if I choose a faction that wasn't Dauntless, my world would have changed. I never would have met Tobias. I probably would have eventually been turned into a host.

That's a scary thought. But that's what comes with choices.

I had my choice then. And I believe that Wanda should have her choice now.

Despite her obedience, Wanda can be disobedient. Disobedient to the other souls by turning to the human side. Disobedient to Jeb by running away with Jared outside of the caves. She can be defiant. She has a bit of a defiant nature. So I don't know, but I believe. I believe that she will defy Jeb's decision.

"You're still going to leave," I say.

She nods.

"To where?"

She lets out a little laugh. Looks away from me. Looks to the wall. "To my death."

To her death.

I stand stock still. Words fail me, but only for a moment. I sharply say, "To your death?"

She nods sadly. "Don't try to convince me otherwise, Tris. You are a good friend, and I love you very much, but I can't stay here. I know with the other souls we just take them to the shuttles to be shipped off. But I don't want another life in a host. I've had eight lives besides this one, Tris. I am thousands of years old. I do not want to be going around one more time. I have become so attached to this place, to this earth, to its inhabitants, that this is the place I want to die. I want to be buried out in the orange and purple dust, and I want Melanie to be with Jared, and I don't want anyone feeling sad about my dying. I am tired, Tris. Of everything bad around here. The good you and the others have shown me does not overwhelm my need to get out of this body."

My lips fall into a straight line. I want her to stop. This is a suicide, but a death long in coming. I wonder too, that if I were thousands of years old, would I want to finally rest? To just fall asleep and never wake up?

That sounds relieving to me, and I'm not the one who is thousands of years old.

Wanda gives me a small smile when I say nothing bad in return. "Thank you, Tris."

"When do you plan on leaving?" I say, my voice hollow.

She hesitates. "I'm not sure. I will have to ask Doc. But, please, Tris, don't tell anyone. Not Jeb, not Jamie—"

"What about Jared?" I ask.

She shakes her head. "He will find out soon enough. Like everyone else."

"And what about Ian?" I say. "He had something to say about the matter."

She blushes slightly. I've never seen her blush. It covers her entire face.

"You're not going to defy him, are you?"

"And you haven't with Tobias?" Wanda says. She sounds like she's picked up a bit of our human nature.

She has a point. But I'm not rising to take the bait. "This isn't about me and Tobias. It's about you and Ian, and I'd say he cares too much for you to just let you do that."

"But he has to understand," Wanda says. "If he loves me, he'll understand."

He may understand, but he won't like it.

"So you're telling me not to tell him. To leave him in the dark and let you deceive you?" I demand.

Wanda lets out a sigh. "You sound so much like Melanie. You both are so alike. Loyal, fierce, strong, and very stubborn."

"Not one of my prouder virtues," I say.

"It's a good thing to have. I never said it was a bad thing," Wanda say. She touches my shoulder, smiles. "It's a very good thing for you, Tris. You use it to do good."

Her hand falls away. "Go back. Go talk with your friends."

"What are you doing?" I say.

Wanda smile. It's a mysterious smile that I'm not used to seeing on her. "I've got a few things to do."

**AHHHHHHH. Thanks for reading! Please review! :)**


	18. Exploring for Dora

_**Soli Deo gloria**__**  
**_

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own the Host or Divergent.  
**

I don't find my friends in the kitchen. Only there do I find Trudy and Heidi, on their duties to clean up. To my question of where has everyone gone, they don't have a clue.

I head first to the room I share with Christina and Wanda. It's empty; only moonlight shines in as a temporary visitor. I turn on my heel and start down the dusty passages. While Wanda had told me not to tell Jeb, Jamie, or Jared or Ian, there's still Tobias. Surely he doesn't count as anyone. He will not try to stop her; he may think to try, but he holds people to their choices. And I need someone to tell.

I try the bathing room, yelling over the falling water. There's no reply, and so I head to the hospital. I see Doc there, poring over a book. But no one else.

The game room is where I find them. All congregated, but there's not much talking. And not everyone is there. Mostly everyone Jared on down in age. But no Wanda. Where can she be? I'm not sure.

Ian hurries to me, asking, "Have you seen Wanda?"

I fight the urge to tell him. "I just saw her. She's probably going for a walk."

Ian nods, brushes past me.

"Where are you going?" I ask.

"I gotta keep her out of that hospital," he says before hurrying out of the room.

A pang hits my heart as I turn back to see every face looking at me. Jamie approaches me and asks very plainly, "Tris, is Wanda going to disobey Uncle Jeb?"

I give him a flash smile. I hope it works. Wanda and I both have something in common. We're horrible liars. But it's worth a shot.

"You heard Jeb. His house, his rules. He made a ruling."

Fortunately, Jamie grins and runs back to playing soccer with Hector, Kyle, Sunny, Aaron, Andy, Paige, Wes, and Lily.

My shoulders slump and instantly two arms come 'round and rest atop my shoulders.

"Were you lying to him, Tris?" Uriah wonders.

"Do you even need to ask that? It's kind of obvious," Christina says confidently. She doesn't even sound very worried at all.

"Wanda's out to do what Wanda is out to do," Zeke says, rounding in on us. He tilts his head. "Isn't that so, Tris?"

"So she's heading to that Fire Planet or wherever? When?" Christina says.

I gulp. I don't want to tell them. They sound so nonchalant. And I know they care about Wanda even a little bit, but their Dauntless spirit cheers her on. Wants her to go out and do the unknown.

My gaze falls on Tobias, sitting and leaning against the wall. His eyes watch the soccer game. He turns his head slowly to me, and I hurry to him.

With silence, I sit down next to him. I keep my face as straight as possible, though he must notice how my facial expressions change. I would make such a bad Candor.

"What is it?" he says, his voice soft.

"Wanda," I say. "She has plans."

"Plans that mean leaving us." Tobias can easily jump to conclusions.

I gulp. "She plans to die."

Silence from him. The sounds of the soccer game, of the shouts and the ball going all about, fill the air. He lets out a deep breath. I don't know what I expect of him.

"We need to find her a new body."

I wasn't expecting that.

I turn to face him fully. He's determined looking. I wasn't expecting that either. Like he wants to do this, and will do so.

"I feel responsible for her. I was the one who took her body from the table—"

"Hey, I was the one goading you on," I say. Like I would give him all the credit of saving Wanda/Melanie all by himself.

"Fine, you and I brought her here, we let her be subjected to these humans, who are not representing the best of the human race, and now she's going. Because she feels the need. But she is far more deserving of life than any of us," Tobias says.

Get another body. Get another soul and not turn them into an human. But give it to the selfless soul. Because rewards are due to those who deserve them, and Wanda has waited long enough.

"To whom are we to appeal for usage of the cars?" I say.

Tobias leans back. Closes his eyes. Smiles. "Since when are you one to ask for permission?"

"Fair warning to everyone might be nice," I say.

"Being awfully considerate, are we?" he replies. He sounds so easy, so calm. And I realize that he's waiting for the storm.

* * *

The two of us find Doc quite easily in the hospital. Warn him of Wanda and what she might do. He pales, but listens carefully, considerately. He swears to do what we suggest. He doesn't want Wanda to leave as much as we do. He'll fulfill some of her wish, but the rest is our decision. She's getting a body, and it's as simple as that.

We don't warn Jeb beforehand. He may try to stop her. But even with that, I believe he knows that she will do it. He'll give us permission to find her a body once the deed is done.

It happens, the deed, late at night. I know this because in the early morning, I awaken to shouts. Not for the first time in my life, but for the first time here.

I sit up stiffly, alarmed, but then I realize what has happened. I look to Christina, who sleeps in her underwear, and she looks to Wanda's bed first thing, on instinct.

She's gone, and Christina swears, and I'm out the door by the time she's tugging on her pants.

My feet carry me down the halls toward the hospital. I pass several people, especially in the plaza, looking confused. But I already know where to take myself, and they follow my confident stride to Doc's, where he is looking pale but calm.

The room is filled with the smell of alien medicines and sweat. But not a drop of whiskey. Which is good, considering when the souls were dismantled, he had drunk enough to kill a regular man.

The room has Doc, Jeb, Jared, Ian, and Melanie. I can see her eyes, how they flash about. Not the silver eyes of what I have been used to seeing on her for months, but the dark brown I first saw her have when she passed us in her car.

"Why?" Ian says from atop of a cot. Next to him is one of the cryotanks where we store the extracted souls. It looks so calm and grey, almost like something from Abnegation. Only Abnegation wouldn't have had something so technological in their grasp.

He doesn't sound angry. Not sad, but surprised, scared, regretful. Betrayed. A thousand emotions that I have felt over the course of the last few months. And I wonder now if it would have been easier to tell him beforehand about what she was going to do, but I'm sure that he would have reacted even worse.

"It was her decision," Doc says calmly.

"I should have never let her out of my sight," Ian whispers.

"You can't do that all of the time," Tobias says. His words of wisdom are lost on Ian, who looks so distraught that he looks like a kicked puppy.

Kyle comes out of the crowd behind me. "Holy crap. What the hell happened?"

"A lot, it's suffice to say," Doc says. He wipes his hands on his towel and looks to me, to my surprise, to explain.

All eyes fall on me. Despite being welcome to this calm Doc, I'm about ready to punch him for drawing the attention on me. Tobias looks to me also, a knowing look on his face. Maybe I can punch him, too.

"Tris?" Ian says, surprised. His arm wraps around the cryotank next to him like it's a lifeline. "Did you know about this?"

I can only bleakly nod.

I was never good at lying.

His voice is hollow. "And you didn't try to stop her."

"I didn't," I say. "But I'm also not allowing herself to kill herself." I am done with all the suicides. I will not let her die, and that's the end of it. As she said, I'm stubborn.

"What?" Ian says. He sounds breathless.

"She wanted to die," I say. "She was tired of living like a human. Tired in living in hosts. She wanted to be buried, but I came to Doc beforehand, and he saved her, Ian. He put her in a cryotank, and I don't care WHAT she told me. I will get her a body, and I won't let her die, because I'm so tired of having people I care about die around me!"

Silence fills the room. My breathing is harsh, coming out in short breaths.

Jared looks to Jeb. "How soon can we go out and find a body?"

Jeb shrugs. "How fast can you drive, son?"

Jared lets a small grin on his face and it grows and fills his entire face with light. I didn't know that he could smile that broadly. I didn't know that he could smile at all. He reaches for Melanie's hand, which she gives him, and says to Ian, "Hey, O'Shea. Wanna come with?"

He shakes his head. Looking at the cryotank with such affection I'm surprised, he says, "I'll wait here. I shouldn't, but I trust you guys."

Christina, having come up behind me, claps her hands and says, "Let's plan a raid."

* * *

There are a lot of us who go. Tobias, myself, Jared, Melanie, Jamie, Christina, and Uriah head out that afternoon, all armed with sunglasses, all ready to search. It's surprising that Melanie lets Jamie go, but she seems more than obliging with Jared next to her now. I see in her face now the way she had looked when she had described him by the campfire. Her brown eyes light up and she has a warm smile, and now Jared smiles like he can't stop. He sits in the back and kisses Melanie tenderly. Tobias tries not to get distracted as he drives. I cover my ears when Christina starts giving us a play by play.

"Christina, STOP," Uriah says, groaning.

"And there's the tongues again," Christina continues. She gets joy out of this. I know it.

Thank God we find a neighborhood by sundown. A plan is made, and we split into pairs. We'll be quick, being in such a residential area with so many souls and so little humans. Especially when the sun is going down.

I head out with Tobias and Christina. Our incentive is to find a nice teenage body that Jamie will approve of. He stands behind a tree, waiting with Melanie for us to return options for Wanda's new body. Cruel, but easy. And that's the Dauntless way, sometimes.

I walk past a park and stick my arm out, stopping Tobias and Christina. I turn back to them, having to look up to see their faces, and say, "Let's investigate the park. And be careful, Tobias."

He raises an eyebrow.

I give him a smile. "Even female souls can see an attractive body."

"Yeah, be careful," Christina says. "Don't approach girls too menacingly. You'll scare the hell out of them and they'll have the Seekers after us."

"Are they the equivalent of the police in the soul world?" Tobias wonders.

Christina shrugs and bounces off. Tobias and I share a look and split apart, ready to hunt down a soul. I've done worse and far more dangerous things. This should be relatively easy.

But then, what ever is?

But for some reason, this is. I find a teenage girl swinging on a playground set. She is taller and older looking than me, but only slightly, with golden brown hair that is curly and hugs her head, with bright silver eyes and a kind smile, slight orange freckles sprinkled across her face. She looks perfect to me, the right amount of Melanie with a big bit of an angel.

I find Tobias and whisper to him. He fetches Jamie and the chloroform, and he follows me from a distance, Melanie behind him.

There's no one around the soul that look like they're with her. She's completely alone. Now I need to lure her out. "Excuse me," I say in my best sweet voice.

She turns to me, flashes a white smile. "Yes? Is something wrong?"

"Yes. I am new to this area, and I have lost my way home. Do you know how to get to Danport Road?" I ask, making up a street on the spot.

She furrows her eyebrows. "I think so." She jumps off her swing and hurries to me, saying, "I'm Dora. Well, my Host's name is that. And what is your name?"

"Strength Be There," I say.

"What an unusual name," she says. Sunny said that it was okay, and so does Dora as she walks beside me, guiding me along. I can hear Tobias from a distance, coming along with Melanie and Jamie, who sounds excited.

I hug Dora from behind as soon as we're in an empty place. She lets out a gasp and says, "Oh, a hug! Strength Be There, thank you, but please, put me down—" and her words are drowned out by the wet towel put at her mouth.

Tobias captures her in his arms and holds her down like a baby for Jamie to inspect. Melanie nods after a moment, and Jamie looks to me. "She's perfect."

I nod, wipe my sweaty hands on my jeans. That went well. "Let's get her into the car."

* * *

Jamie goes darting through the caves, hollering at the top of his lungs that we're back. People start pouring out. I hurry behind Tobias toward the hospital, where Doc looks ready.

Ian looks pale but relieved as Dora gets laid gently on the bed. She looks so peaceful, just like Wanda.

"Isn't she great, huh, Ian? Tris found her, and she is the best one! I think Wanda will like her. I like her, so she probably will too," Jamie says cheerfully.

Ian nods wearily and looks up to see Doc with a scalpel. "Ready, Ian?"

I watch from the sidelines, as I usually do. I have no knowledge of medicine, yet am fascinated as Ian gently lets Wanda slide out of his hand and nestle into the slit in Dora's neck. Doc applies the vital medicines, stands back, wiping his hands on his towel, and says, "That's all I can do."

Ian lets out a sigh. "That's all I can ask for."

**WELL? Whatcha think? :)**


	19. Caleb, DO NOT DIE I WON'T LET YOU

_**Soli Deo gloria  
**_

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own the Host or Divergent. I know there are people reading this, and I'd appreciate any and all reviews! (Except the flames. Those are bad.) :O  
**

Waiting for Wanda to wake up is like when we were waiting for her to come out of her hiding place after she had seen the torn apart souls. Everyone is tense, watchful, daring looks at Ian watching the body, like he's its protective guardian.

Not too much time passes. Only a couple of days later Kyle comes running around, telling us of Wanda waking up. It's the middle of the day. I'm covered in sweat and dirty clothes, exhausted, but I still run with Tobias on my heels to the hospital.

The reunion is sweet. Wonderful. Melanie, Jared, Jamie, Jeb, Doc, and Ian gather around Wanda, who looks at home in the body. She looks to me and says, "Tris . . ."

I shrug. I don't regret my decision. The look on Ian's face as he kisses Wanda tells me that the choice I didn't honor was a bad one.

Sharon and Maggie look angry at this change in the plan, but neither of us care. Provoking them is fun, making them angry. It's a joy I find in annoying those against me. It's one of the only things I can have against them.

This gives me hope. Tobias knows, and that's why he draws me aside.

"You want to get Caleb back, don't you?" He says it as a fact.

I do. Despite everything my brother has done, I want him back. Tobias sees my face as an answer and he presses a kiss to my forehead like a seal. He sets his eyes boring into mine, his hands on my shoulders, and he says, "I swear I'll get him back then."

* * *

There's a tribunal called. Everyone comes, even the new humans: Jacob, Alan, Ann, and Grace.

Tobias and I are the center of this one, since it is our idea to go back to Chicago. My hands are sweaty and clammy as Jeb stands up. "All right, folks. The reason this here tribunal has been called is because Tobias and Tris want to head back to their home city and bring back some souls for extraction."

"How many souls?" Violetta wonders.

Tobias lists off his fingers the souls the seven of us from Chicago had decided on last night. Caleb. Tori. Cara. Christina's family (Christina nods). That's only five, but that's enough. I throw a look at Tobias. He has been undecided concerning his parents. He wants his parents back, his old, nice parents, but not what they have become. And neither does he want the souls inhabiting his parents. I tried to talk to him about it when we clung to each other last night, but he just whispered in my ear and lost me in him. Clever and tactical.

"Only five?" Brandt says, surprised.

"We only have so much room in the caves," Tobias says. He doesn't go on to say that he's sure they're the only five we know and want. Shauna and Hector's and Zeke and Uriah's parents are dead from the attacks. There's no one else.

"Does this mean that we can go out to our different cities and get our loved ones?" Andy wants to know.

"Now, probably. But we have to do this gradually. We only have so much room in these caves, and so we can only have so many raids for souls again," Jeb says. He licks his lips and nods. "But, I think over time, we can go on raids. Just gradual, just gradual."

While I can tell everyone is seizing up about having to wait, they know there's no arguing with Jeb. They have nothing to say but that they need their loved ones back. That's not an incentive enough to go cross country, spreading us all out at once.

A party is made up and preparations made. Jared, Ian (with Wanda at his side at all times), Tobias, and Jamie make up a plan to scavenge the city. Melanie, excited to go on her first 'real' raid, helps myself and Christina gather the supplies we need.

"This is going to be great," Melanie says excitedly. "Wanda is coming with; it'll be nice to finally have face-to-face conversations with her." She bumps me with her hip. "Nice choice on her body. It fits her." Her voice lowers, grows quieter, and she says, "I hope we can get your brother back."

I'm startled. She says, "Tobias told me about him. It's hard, having your brother as your only blood family in the entire world. But don't worry about it." She smiles broadly. "Others will come along. They'll help."

Her words aren't very effective on me, but they're still nice to hear. I let out a breath as we finally close the car trunk the morning of leaving. We all already said goodbye to everyone we're leaving in the caves, and after shouting at Jared and Melanie to stop making out with each other, we're ready to head out.

Tobias sits in the driver's seat. I steal the passenger's seat from Zeke, and Tobias throws me a smile once I'm buckled. It's a weak smile that I know the meaning of. This is what we're setting out to do, what we've been preparing for. But we still don't know if we want to do it.

But he puts the car in drive, and we follow Jared.

* * *

There's no turning back. We're going to get Caleb. Among others, but he's the one I'm the most worried about.

He won't have changed much. Wanda has said that souls are basically immortal, and while that earned many groans from everyone else, I found it a bit of a relief. That means his body should still be alive. I highly doubt he will have moved away from Chicago. We should be able to find him easily. But I'm uneasy about him killing himself. The soul inside might rebel, like Caleb, and just kill its host, Caleb as well.

And I don't know what I will do when I'm familyless. I was familyless before; I don't think I can be expected to live through it again.

I lean against the window. Let out a breath. It's so cold out now. If it wasn't the desert, we'd have snow. It'd make it hard to drive, so I'm glad it's not here.

We used to get snow in Chicago when I was younger. I would help my mother distribute blankets to the factionless. They would have these trash cans full of burning garbage as warming fires. I would gag and have cold hands. My mittens were given to the factionless.

The Candor and Dauntless would throw snowballs at everyone at school. I always wanted to form a snowball and throw it, but Caleb would remind me that snowballs thrown at someone caused pain and delight for the thrower. That was just not acceptable.

I wonder if I can do that now. But it seems so childish and petty compared to what we have to do. So I let it slip from my mind and I close my eyes and wish us there.

* * *

It's very easy for Wanda to do what Tobias did so long ago. Dressed in warm clothes, she goes and enters the Erudite building to ask for their names and whereabouts. I practically have to hold down Ian with my bare hands to keep him from bolting after her. If he tried a little harder, I wouldn't have been able to keep him down.

She comes out and we scatter throughout the city.

I look over Tobias's shoulder at his copy of the list and he whisks it away.

"Tobias," I say. I want to see it, and I snatch for it. He raises it away from me, as long as his arm can reach. I let out a breath. It comes out in a cold cloud. He's just acting childish now.

"Tobias," I say again, and then: "Are your parents' names on that list?"

He looks pissed at me, and he sighs and says, "Yes."

"Why are you trying to hide it from me, then?" I say.

"You don't want to know," he says.

The Erudite curiosity in me lights up, and I say, "There's something else. What is it, Tobias?"

"I am not entirely sure you can handle it."

Handle it. _He is not entirely sure that I can handle it._

"You can see it if you solemnly swear you will stay calm and act rationally," Tobias offers.

Now I'm a little concerned. What is on that list that would make Tobias make those terms out to me? I am tired of this, and so I just nod, and he lowers the paper.

I scan the list of names, and I see Caleb's name. Caleb Prior. Across from it is his alien name. But there's another Prior. I frown, my eyebrows furrow together. An Angela Prior.

It hits me. I see the words, don't want to believe them. Something rises in my throat, a primal scream, but Tobias claps a hand over my mouth. I scream in his hand until the noise is gone and my throat is raw.

Caleb is married.

The soul in Caleb has married another soul.

I can barely absorb it; it's just information pounding in my ears with no feeling, no feeling except intensity, truth.

Now the soul in Caleb is really going to resist us. He won't want to leave his_ wife._

We leave him for a few months and he goes and does this.

Tobias looks at me, biting his lip, but otherwise his face is a mask. He is Four now. Just what I need. I need Four to help me find my brother in this soul-infested jungle and get him out without him killing himself.

Easier said than done, of course.

His apartment is found. He is located in the Erudite part of town, where everything is consistently white but reminds me of blue just the same. We answer the receptionist soul with the excuse of having an appointment with him (Caleb is apparently turning into a therapist of sorts) and we find the apartment number. Tobias has a bottle in his pocket, next to his emergency pill. I don't like him having it, considering now we can possibly get him back if he is inserted, but he carries it just the same. Just in case, he says.

He's ready when I knock on the apartment door and am answered by a woman. She has dark red hair, a tall stature, with a wiry frame. She says hi in the nicest voice possible and invites us in.

"Caleb," she calls, walking into their bedroom. I shudder to think of what they have done in there.

Behind me Tobias is popping the top off the bottle, and by the time Caleb comes along, he has a paper towel wet.

Caleb. His black hair is wet, freshly showered. He looks so nice, so healthy, that it hurts me. To think this soul has really taken over my brother's life.

"Can I help you?" he asks.

"Just hold still," Tobias says, and he has the towel over Caleb's mouth in two seconds.

Caleb's wife lets out a shriek, and I knock her out with a punch before she can call the Seekers. This ensures that she will not follow us or kill herself, thinking we're going to take her as well. She falls to the floor and Caleb slumps. Tobias catches him under his arms and we're out the fire escape, not wanting to pass the receptionist with a knocked out tenant.

We meet the others at the car. Christina, Jared, Melanie, and Jamie have Christina's mother and younger sister slumped over their shoulders. Uriah comes running up with Cara, and Zeke, Ian and Wanda have Tori.

"Is that everyone?" Jared asks once we're done loading them in. They're piled over the seats of one of the vans, leaning against the sides of the trunk once the seats are full.

I throw a look at Tobias. He looks to be having an internal battle with himself. To get his parents back—or not. More than once, he wanted both of his parents dead. He has barely said a word about it since that night when he told me he wanted me safe about his parents. He has a choice: to let them unjustly be suppressed, or to have them freed.

He lets out a breath, looks away. "Nah. There's two more I have to get."

"Who?" Jamie wants to know.

Melanie turns to explain to Jamie as Tobias recruits Jared, Zeke, and Uriah to help him. For some reason, I'm glad I'm not going. My muscles hurt, my back aches, and the overwhelming news about Caleb is still fresh in my mind. Even looking at him now, his head slumped against Tori's shoulder, knocked out with enough chloroform to keep him out for a few days, safe, it hurts.

A part of me wants to ride in the car with Caleb, to keep an eye on him like he did on me so many months ago, but a part of me wants to be as far away from him as possible, like he's a deadly creature that can harm me at any moment.

I slump into the backseat of the other van as Tobias's party comes into view. I can barely see them in the dim, dark light that we're working in, but I see two bodies get dumped into the other van. I see Tobias's face as he steps back. It's hard, full of conflicted emotions. He's saving the man who beat him, who caused him to run away. That's Dauntless. That's forgiveness, even if in the slightest way given.

The cars are loaded, and before the souls' cars can start coming out to work, we're on our way to the city's limits.

We make it fine towards the limits, and I see something. Rather, someone. Like before, it's a blond head with clear, human, unadulterated eyes, disgruntled and dirty, no longer looking so clean but still retaining the same arrogance, the arrogant face that Kyle has. The face we can only live with one person having or else chaos will ensue. Despite him being a human, there's no taking him in. He'd be appalled at us saving the souls and kill them the first chance he got.

No. There's no saving him now. And the look on his face tells me he understands.

Peter and I keep our eyes on each other until my car drives away, and he is gone.

* * *

The drive home is quiet. Tobias is driving the other van with Zeke and Uriah. I slump against Christina, and Wanda leans against me. I have no energy. The fact of what we've done is overwhelming.

We have to pull over to get some sleep one night. It's late, and I feel like not moving at all, but then Zeke comes along to our car and has a conversation with Jared at the driver's seat. Everyone holds their breaths as they whisper, and when Zeke turns back, Melanie instantly asks, "Jared, what's going on?"

Jared is unbuckling himself. He looks pissed. "The souls are waking up," he says. He hurries out and Melanie is after him in a second.

I instantly sit up, startling Wanda and jostling Christina. I hurry for the door; I need to be quick. I need to convince Caleb's soul not to kill my brother.

Christina swears as I wrestle myself out of the car, nearly tripping onto the sand we're on. We're in the desert; we covered a lot of distance in the last few days.

The other car's lights are on full blast; we're in a deserted part of the world, but there's no telling what souls can come rolling up at any time to inquire. But Seekers are the last thing on my mind now as I rush to where Jared is trying to hold down Cara with the help of Melanie.

I'm frozen; there's souls wiggling about, shouting about where they are, and I can't move. I'm useless, completely useless.

I nearly fall over as Christina pushes me. "Come on, Tris, MOVE." This makes me fall forward and come to the trunk of the van. Caleb, or the soul inhabiting him, is looking around frantically. I'm relieved that he hasn't killed himself yet, but this is just the beginning.

"Where am I? Who are you? Where is Angela?" Caleb wonders.

I gulp. He's a soul, just like Wanda is. I just need to stay calm. Stay calm stay calm stay calm stay calm.

"Caleb," I say. His attention falls on me. My breath catches. His silver eyes look almost not out of place on his face. I shake my head, not wanting this. "Please, calm down."

"You're a human," he says, sounding panicked.

"I am. But I don't want to hurt you," I say.

He stops shaking as realization passes over his face. "You're her."

Her?

"The girl from his memories. Beatrice. Tris. Tris Prior. His sister, you're this host's sister," he whispers.

I can only nod.

He nods also, sitting up a bit straighter. "That's why you're here, isn't it? To kidnap me? He—he had harmed you. He hadn't been a very nice brother. Are you—you, are you going to kill me?" He sounds so certain of it, so matter of fact, that he reminds me a bit of Caleb.

I shake my head. "No. That's the reason I want to take him to get you extracted." The soul pales. "No, no, I swear I will not let them hurt you! Please! I just want my brother back!"

"But why? He—he hurt you. Why don't you want to kill him?" the soul wants to know.

I feel a lump growing in my throat, tears tearing at my eyes. "Because he's my brother! And I love him and I don't want an alien inhabiting his body, and he's the only relative I have!"

The soul looks a little shocked at that. I'm shaking now, and I swear I might do something I'll regret when the soul says very quietly, "You won't hurt me?"

"No; we'll send you to the planet of your choice. Please. I just want my brother back."

The soul nods, and says, "Okay." After a moment, he says, "The Flower Planet."

I nod my head, afraid that I'm going to burst into tears. Caleb turns to the other souls and starts talking to them. His voice is calm, but I can barely hear him. I feel a hand on my shoulder leading me back to my car.

I disappear into Tobias's sweatshirt until Christina shakes my shoulders. "Hey. The souls are under control now. We're okay."

Good. No deaths. I exhale a breath that sounds strangled. Caleb is fine. My brother is fine.

My brother is fine.

**Things are soon to be coming to a close. GASP.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	20. Evelyn, Hi, Welcome Back

_**Soli Deo gloria **_

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own the Host or Divergent. **

The moment we get to the caves people come running out. The soul filled bodies have been knocked out with chloroform again, just as a precaution, and they sleep on as they're draped over shoulders and carried to surgery.

I enter the plaza, watch as Uriah carries off Caleb to the hospital. For some reason, I don't want to watch. I don't want to see the identical scar I have on my brother's neck. I don't want to see the alien come out of him like a real parasite.

Jeb approaches Tobias and I. Tobias barely notices him; Evelyn and Marcus are disappearing from sight. The last time he'll see them as souls. He doesn't want to face them when they wake up. He doesn't want to see them now. He's conflicted already about his decision.

"Got 'em all?" Jeb says.

I nod.

"That's good. None of them went and turned, did they?"

Tobias shakes his head.

Jeb spits at the ground and gives us a wry smile. "That's a good thing, you know. Can't count on the actions of a soul as much as you can on a human. Wanda showed us that, now didn't she?"

I nod again, and look up to face him. He looks as pleased as punch about this. "We got new caves started out. Reid's good with plans around here. I've gone through each and every cave in this place. It's a big one. We got a few walls knocked down. Before ya know it, this place will look like a motel. Isn't like it ain't that at the moment, huh?"

I crack a smile at that, making him look even more cheerful. He looks to the entrance leading to the hospital and he says, "Ain't you kids going to head in there?"

"Nah," Tobias says, shaking his head.

"See you brought back a coupla extra. Who are they, if I might?" Jeb says.

A moment passes. I can feel Tobias tense next to me. "My pare—Evelyn and Marcus Eaton."

"Eaton," Jeb says. His eyes look over Tobias, and he must have drawn a conclusion to suit himself as he changes the subject. "Had any Seekers trailing ya?"

I shake my head, and he says, "Well, that's good." He looks around the plaza and says, "Well, if you don't want to watch the procedure, you two can start helping on chores. Tris, go find Jamie. Get him to help ya. And see if you can tear Ian from Wanda. I need that boy to help me out, and despite all the good Wanda has done, she won't be doing much of that if she's keeping him from following the rules." He straightens, gives us a conspiratorial wink, and then turns on his heel and starts whistling his way out of the plaza.

Tobias and I turn to each other when Jeb has disappeared. Tobias looks like he wants to say something, but the words don't come out. He has a look in his eyes; it's purely scared and childlike. I thought he had looked older in the past few months, but he's still so young. Still not even nineteen.

And he still needs his parents. I still need my parents. But they're all gone.

I put my hand on his forearm, not sure what to do, but he scoops me up in his arms and hugs me as closely to him as he can. No prickles of fear run through me as I hug his arms to myself, burying my head between his head and his shoulder. He will regret his decision sometimes here, but he needs them back. When you have parents, you're in luck. They can go in just a second. He has his now. I hope they do their duty to him. Because that's what parents are supposed to do.

* * *

I weed the gardens with a chattering Jamie and a quiet Wanda for a few hours. I'm cold and hardened from the days of sleeping in the car. This physical activity is loosening me, causing me to ache even more.

I get pulled when I look up to see Melanie coming to the three of us.

"They're all extracted. Come on," Melanie says.

I shake my head, but she grabs my arm and says, "Come on. Don't be an idiot, Tris. Your brother is there. Your older brother is himself again. That's something. So don't be an idiot and MOVE." She pulls me up and shoves me to the hospital, a firm, almost maternal look on her face as she puts her hands on her hips.

I turn away from her and step forward. I disappear in the darkness of the passage, the thought of _Caleb is free Caleb is free_ pounding through my head, and suddenly I'm running through the tunnels and flying into the orange lit hospital.

The cots are all full. Pallets made of blankets has had to be made to accommodate the extra bodies. Doc is busy wiping his hands and sterilizing his tools. We meet eyes briefly. His eyes drift over to his cot. Caleb.

I fall next to him. He's laying on his back, his arms at his sides. He looks stock still, excepting the gentle rise and fall of his chest. He's breathing.

Doc comes to stand next to me. I look up and discover tears in my eyes. I blink them away to see him holding up a cryotank.

"His soul is in here," he says. "Did he have a specific planet he wanted to be sent to?"

"The Flower Planet," I say. My voice is raspy.

Doc nods and puts a hand on my shoulder. It feels warm and comforting. "Stay calm, Tris."

"Thanks, Doc," I whisper.

He walks away, leaving me by my brother's side. I place a hand at his wrist, feel his pulse. I wonder if he was conscious the entire time. To think of what the soul did with his body . . . I know what marriage has. I'm not that Stiff. He will be so confused when he wakes up.

A part of me, the resentful, animal part of me, is still angry at him. Looking at him now, it's almost like he was never taken over by a soul, and he's still the boy who sold me out to Jeanine. But he's my brother. You can't pick family; you can only live with them.

I look up and see Christina kneeling between two cots, looking from one to the other. Her eyes are full of tears, but she's looking like she might burst into laughter. She looks to Zeke and Uriah, who, for them not having a better guardian, are standing over Cara and Tori.

And there, at the loneliest looking corner of the entire hospital, is Tobias, hands in his pockets, his back to me, his gaze passing from the unconscious body of his mother to the body of his father.

Doc tells us to talk to them. Apparently Ian's talking to Wanda helped her wake up. So I talk to Caleb, but with a clouded mind. My thoughts are with Tobias, not Caleb. Still, I try to think of things to say. Stuff like, "Caleb, come back. Caleb, come on. It's Tris," gets old after a while, though.

So I tell him a story. A long story about a little girl with a choice that led her and her entire city down a wild path, a story about a girl who found aliens outside the gate. A girl who's discovered more in six months than she has in the entirety of the rest of her life.

It's a long story, and by the time I've exhausted my voice, the curious bystanders are gone. Jared is on a raid with Melanie to take the cryotanks to the souls to send off. Besides the watchers and the patients and Doc, there's no one in the hospital. It's dimly lit, and I just know it's night. Supper's long past, but I don't wish for it. I have no appetite.

I give Caleb's wrist one last squeeze, and stand up. My legs are asleep. They cripple me for a second, making me let out a hiss. I straighten, though, and quietly walk over to Tobias.

He has acquired a chair. His hands are clasped in his lap. He looks at them instead of his parents. He doesn't say a word to me or to them, to bring them back. I think he'd rather stall their awakening for as long as possible.

"How's it going with Caleb?" he wonders, looking up. He looks tired, the bags under his eyes so definite in the deft light.

"No response," I say.

He looks to his father. "Same."

"You could try talking to them," I point out.

"No," he says. "Let them stay like that for as long as possible."

It's not cruel, what he's doing, but it's not kind, either.

"You still don't want them back," I say.

"My want for them to be themselves again goes back and forth. I'm leaning towards them staying souls forever at the moment," he replies.

I raise an eyebrow. "How are we supposed to repopulate the earth with humans if we go about this that way?"

He raises an eyebrow as well. Looks a little interested. Good. Anything to distract him at the moment. "You seem determined about that."

I feel startled. "About what?"

"Repopulating the earth," Tobias says. He sounds amused. His amusement is replaced with, "How serious are you about that?"

"Tobias," I say. He stands up and walks over to me. He's so much taller than me. Taller than the average eighteen-year-old. When he gulps, I can see his Adam's apple stick out predominantly in his throat. I swallow just at seeing it.

"How serious are you about it?" he repeats. His tone is firm. But it's wondering. Asking.

I shake my head, not knowing what to say. Well, someday . . . but not right now. "I still have my fear," I say. What a weak thing to point out.

He has an uplifted corner of his mouth. He captures my tiny hands in his big ones, and he says, tilting his head, "And . . . have thoughts been had over eradicating that fear?"

I can practically feel the blush come on me, but he still looks straight into my eyes. Unwavering. Calm. Patient.

It's that patience he has with me. He'll break his temper with me, but he is patient with me. When I cried in his bed the night my parents died, he was patient. I know he is always ready to take down a fear, but I also know he'll wait.

My head shakes. One of his hands drops mine and captures the left side of my face in a calm embrace.

"Then you're going to have to stop bringing it up," he says with a slight laugh. "But—okay."

"I wasn't trying to bring it up," I protest, but he's barely hearing me. He's laughing too hard. "Tobias!" I say louder. But I see it now. And his laugh is warm. Not as cold as you would think.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," he says.

I catch a hold on his shoulder. I shake my head. "Don't be sorry." I will never be sorry to hear him laugh, and he shouldn't either.

"Okay," he whispers. "Then I won't," and he gives me a chaste kiss before backing up and saying, "I suppose we should get our family back."

"If you can even count them as that anymore," I whisper.

He sighs. "We share blood."

That's all that ties us to them. I look back over to Caleb. Tobias has a point. I nod, and we turn back to our places, to wait as patiently as we can for them to wake up.

We can only wonder how soon their time will be.

* * *

Christina's torn. Her sister, Ali, wakes up after three days. Christina's tears and shouts of happiness are obvious as she embraces her sister. She hugs me then, and I hug her back. I'm infinitely glad that she has her sister, but another part of me is jealous that her sibling is back and mine is not.

But then her mother is unresponsive. Totally unresponsive. Doc is worried. Christina and Ali cling to her side, holding her hands, calling for her. Their wails are painful in my ears; they seem more like the sounds of mourning.

One morning Cara wakes up, about three days later. She stirs, sits up, and calls for Will. I bite my lip as I leave Caleb's side and approach her. She looks bedraggled, older than she had, her eyes back to the same color of her brother's eyes.

"Tris?" she says. "Where the hell are we?"

I let out a choked laugh. A reasonable question. But one with far from a simple answer.

I explain, leaving her bewildered looking. She clasps the sheets on her cots, her human eyes looking around wildly. I ask her if she needs time to process. She nods, and I leave her to join Caleb.

She is joined into the community within a couple of hours. She's interested, her face hardened once more, and I shoot Aaron a look when he looks her over. Cara and I have never gotten along, but at this moment, she is vulnerable, and I won't have him try anything.

The day that Tori wakes up rolls around. Her hair is grayer, she points out, than she remembers, and she looks with wonder at her leg.

"These souls are powerful," she whispers. She looks up to meet my eyes. "Far more powerful than we can be."

I nod. She is right.

She sighs. "Tris, I want to thank you for rescuing me." There's no apology, no desperate plea for forgiveness for how she treated me in the Erudite headquarters. But I don't need that. She is grateful, and the matter of her being angry at me has slipped my mind.

The thought of Jeanine being dead has been long gone from me. I've forgotten, almost. Like how I'm trying to forget my parents' deaths and instead remember their faces and their smiles, I've tried to forget everything about Jeanine. I will never learn why her motives were what they were. I will never forget what she did, though I try. But that thought is little compared to what has happened to the planet. Seems almost petty, driven down on my list of things to worry about in the past months by the want to not be turned into a soul, keep the humans safe, and get my friends and brother back.

They've probably destroyed all evidence in the computers in Chicago anyway. There is no point in searching down everyone that Jeanine has had in her plans and take away the soul from them and ask for information. I will have to let it go. In time, I will.

Tori's and my faces whip to the side when we hear someone moaning. It's Evelyn, trying in vain to sit up in her bed.

Tori watches in amazement as I dazedly walk over to her. She, too, has grayer hair than she had when we had left her. She looks older, but healthier. Brighter. It's strange for Evelyn to be bright. She was a dark flame.

Evelyn's eyes rest on Tobias, who has his eyes flickering from the wall to the floor to his hands and to everything but her.

"Tobias," she says. Her word is hers. Her voice is hers. It sounds like a statement, rather than a question or an exclamation of relief.

His eyes finally meet hers. "Evelyn."

Still not 'Mom.'

But that's too much to hope for. They've been through too much. She lost any sense of being his parent.

"What the hell happened?" she says.

"You were inhabited," he says.

"I know. By some strange, greyish thing. I've—I've barely felt anything in months," Evelyn says. She sits up by herself. Lets out a breath. Looks relieved to get control of her body back. She looks to Tobias. "Aliens."

He nods.

"That's what they were. Those Seekers and hosts and souls," Evelyn says. "Parasites."

"Careful what you call them around here," I say. She points her sharp gaze toward me. I shrug. "We're a little sympathetic around here."

"Sympathetic? To those parasites? How? Why?" Evelyn says. "They've been taking over bodies. They took over all of our city, and I watched them. We were hunted down like dogs. They had tasers and guns that hit you with a knocking out jolt." She scowls. Her eyes turn from me. She doesn't want me to see the pain in her eyes. I understand. It's hard trying to hid it.

She sees Marcus peacefully out on the pallet next to her. "Good grief," she spits. "Why is he here?"

"I grew up in Abnegation," Tobias points out.

Evelyn gulps. Nods understandingly. "Of course."

Tobias looks to the ground. His jaw tightens, and I know it takes all that is in him to not stalk out of the room right now to collect himself. But he won't appear weak in front of Evelyn. He won't let himself.

"How long does it take to wake up after the alien is extracted?" is the first of many questions that Evelyn peppers Tobias with for the next few hours. It is obvious he doesn't want to talk to her; he gives her monosyllabic answers. I'm surprised she doesn't just give up. When he finally stops speaking to her, she turns to Doc and, of all people, me. Apparently all thoughts of me being a traitor to her cause have been lost in the past months, and I'm bombarded with questions. I answer her, for some reason. Maybe it's because I feel sympathetic, only slightly, towards her, for being shut away for so many months. My answers are cold. She hardly cares and continues. The questions vary from inquiries of Chicago and then the mass of the humans still left in the world. But then they turn to personal questions. Mostly about me and Tobias. That's when I shut my mouth.

Evelyn looks from him to me, and says, "How far along are you two?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Tobias says irritably.

I don't want any of them to pursue the subject. Prickles of fear of what they are talking about pass over my body as I quickly take to Caleb's side once more. I breathe out. Breathe in. Out. In. Out.

Silence eventually enters the cave. My ears are muted, and everything around me is sort of hazy and quiet.

I fall asleep with my head on Caleb's cot and my hands gripping his.

**Thanks for reading! **


	21. THE END EVERYONE IT'S THE ENDDDDDDD

_**Soli Deo gloria**_

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own the Host or Divergent. It's the last chapter, my friends. :)**

"Tris. Tris. Tris." I feel someone's hand on my shoulder trying to shake me awake. I don't want to wake. No. Sleep is so calming. I've not been prone to nightmares ever since I shared those nights with Tobias. The habit still reminds though he isn't with me now.

"Tris." No. He is here. That's his voice.

I open my eyes to see two hands clasped together in front of me. In quick check, I realize one is mine. I tug it out. It's asleep after having been in such a position for so long.

And then the other hand moves by itself. The body attached to the hand moves by itself. The eyes slowly twitch open, revealing green eyes.

Those eyes—

"Caleb," I whisper, sitting up straighter. He makes a noise in his throat and says, his voice raspy from not being used, "Tris?"

He's alive. He is responsive. This is more than I should have.

"It's about time," I say.

Now I have to explain everything once more.

Of course, having an aptitude for Erudite, he eats up the information. He nods, attentive, to all my words, which are carefully formed. I still don't trust him, but he hardly looks like we're against each other as he takes it all in.

"That's amazing," he says finally when I am done. "They've taken over the entire planet, except for the remnants left of the human race."

I let out a sigh. "More or less, Caleb."

He nods and looks at his sheets. Despite my joy at seeing him awake, all the thoughts of him betraying me fill my mind, and I'm suddenly cold. I don't want to be cold, but I am. How can he have done that? No apology. Barely an explanation.

He had been with Jeanine because of power. Despite their thirst for knowledge being good, there's something wrong with each Erudite. They also have a thirst for power.

* * *

Jeb is excited to show off his caves to the new humans. The place is bigger, with bigger rooms. I'll be sharing a room with Cara and Tori now. I highly doubt that I'll stay in their room, though. I often sneak into Tobias's room and whisper to him through the night.

New humans around here brings morale up. Everyone is more chatty at mealtimes. Everyone wants to know the experiences and abilities of the new humans. They especially take to listening to them tell stories of our lives in the factions. The seven of us never really spoke about the experiences, but Cara is more than open, and eventually Tori joins her.

While everyone is amazed by them, Melanie is most taken to them. She says to me, "Why didn't you tell us any of this before?"

I shrug. Of course, I don't want to say that I want to repress such memories. It's complicated. They're a part of my life, part of when things were normal. But they're also filled with blood. Guilt. Regret. Sickening anguish. It's not worth thinking about, agonizing over.

Melanie leans toward me and asks, her voice very low, "Did you all really think that we were bloodthirsty?"

"Our thoughts concerning that were because of the video. That had happened, at one time," I say. "There was murder. There was chaos."

Melanie looks a little pale as she looks off. "That's why the souls came here. Maybe they had had their point. But—but," she turns back to me, "we weren't all like that."

"Enough of you were," I say.

She looks dazed. "I guess so."

Caleb is . . . distant from me. It's strange, after so many months with him gone, that he is here and yet I can hardly reach him. He's quieter. He mostly listens to people, especially Wanda. She still tells stories of her past lives. They fascinate him.

We barely talk. I wish we would. But I have nothing to say to him without an apology, and he's too prideful, too stupid, despite his knowledge, to think to give me one.

Evelyn talks a lot to everyone. Jeb. Lucina. Sharon. Maggie. Barely to her own son. I think Tobias would rather have it that way. He's a lot quieter now as well.

He laughs more, though, when she's not around.

* * *

"Tobias," Doc says. Tobias barely acknowledges him. He's staring down at his father, still limp and lifeless on his pallet. "He hasn't woken up. I'm afraid the body will starve if it doesn't awaken."

"So how do you just save it?" Tobias says in a cold voice.

"Transplant the soul back into the body. The soul will take root around his nerves, take over his body once more, and he will awaken as a taken over host. Do I have your permission to do that?" Doc says.

Tobias doesn't say a word. My hand carefully goes to his, wary of his fleeing and coming on thoughts that are making this decision hard.

I squeeze his hand. Just enough to let him know what I feel about it.

He straightens. "Do it."

The procedure is done. Tobias watches the whole thing. I think he's trying to tell himself that that soul will take over, that Marcus will never be able to come back. He wasn't so strong a spirit to remain.

Once Doc is finished, Tobias nods. "There. He's kinder now. The soul is better than him. I might always still be Four, but at least he isn't Marcus anymore," he says quietly.

He doesn't sit and wait for Marcus to come back. I check in during breaks in my chores. The soul finally wakes up on the fourth day and comes into the kitchen at lunch. Tobias stops moving and stares at him. He still looks so much like Marcus.

Jeb finishes chewing a bite of beef jerky and says, "What's your name, then?"

"Marcus," the soul says.

"No," Tobias says. He shakes his head. "Don't be called that. I won't have him in these caves anymore."

Jeb looks to the soul, who nods. He seems obliging. "Then it's Streaks Through the Sky."

"How about just Streaks?" Evelyn offers. She is glaring at her ex-husband's body, though with not as much hostility as before. "Easier for everyone."

The soul nods, and Tobias turns back to the table he is sharing with Jared, Melanie, Ian, Wanda, Christina, Andy, and I. I nudge his foot under the table. He nudges me back, and we exchange looks. We don't smile, because this is nothing to smile about.

But the matter is settled, and Marcus is no longer in these caves.

* * *

A knock, "Tris?" I hear one morning. It's nearly a week after Streaks has come into the caves. I'm still hardly used to the new voices. I turn to my door and say, "Come in."

The door is removed so I can see Caleb. He looks distressed; Caleb never looked distressed. I've seen him look sad, tearful, fearful, but never distressed. It's a strange emotion on his face; he tries to hide it, trying to swallow it back. Erudite know that emotion is weakness. Power isn't weakness.

"Caleb," I say. I gulp. I need to keep my own emotions in check. Not display them to him. "Did you want to talk about something?"

"Yes," Caleb says. "Can I come in?"

I nod, and he sets the door behind him. I'm on my crumpled mattress, my sweaty hands clasped in front of me. He sits down cross-legged across from me.

He leans forward. "In Erudite, I was taught that asking questions helps you to seek knowledge. Gain knowledge. So, Tris, I would like an answer to my question." His words are sure now. He's got a bit of himself back. Erudite is a bigger part of him than I have ever thought.

Seconds pass. I fidget in my seat.

He asks, "Why are you avoiding me?"

I let out my breath. Okay. I can answer this question. It's so simple, yet so complicated. "Caleb, I am avoiding you because I am angry with you. I am angry that the Erudite in you is so dominant in taking over your mind. I'm mad that you chose Jeanine over your own sister!"

His face looks in lacking blood. "Tris, I was taught to learn in Erudite. I learned and kept to heart 'Faction before blood—'"

"Oh, it's nice to know that you cared more about your group of peers than your own little sister!" I spit.

"Tris, we were in the middle of a war." Caleb sounds so cold. "One must do what one has to in order to survive. By getting in with Jeanine, I was easily able to save myself from certain death—"

"Why would she have just killed you, you Erudite?" I say. I have no remorse for the anger in my words.

"Because I was with you. I was with you and didn't deliver you to her. Because I couldn't. Because I didn't think I had to. Because I thought I had no other choice," Caleb says quietly. His voice echoes in the cave.

I close my eyes. Choices. That's what brought us here. The choice Amanda Ritter made in making the factions. The choice the souls had in coming here and taking over our planet. The choice Caleb and I had to divide ourselves from our families.

And suddenly I laugh. The factions were useless. They fell apart; they dragged families apart because of how people were in their minds. Tobias was right in wanting to leave them.

Caleb squints at me. "Why are you laughing?"

"Because of choices," I say. "Because you were forced to make that choice." I'm still mad at him for making that choice, for he had also the choice to back out, run away. But that was cowardly. My brother has proven himself not cowardly.

"So are you still angry?" he wonders.

I let out a sigh. I am. Angry at him and angry at choices. But the past is past. Gone. Something I am trying to bury away. I need to forgive and forget. Just forget.

"Yes." I say. "But I forgive you." Forgiveness is the way the Dauntless wanted to be, and despite how the factions were so terribly stupid, they had good morals. They tried, but they hadn't had a good foundation.

Caleb swallows. Gulps down his pride. "I'm sorry, Tris. For betraying you."

Suddenly I'm wrapping my skinny arms around Caleb. That's all I've ever wanted to hear from him. That's what the Abnegation Caleb would have said. And despite how he lived in a lie in that way, I believe that he still has some of that good selflessness still left in him.

There's the sound of rapid footsteps, and Caleb and I stand up to see Christina bursting through the doorway. My door flies to the ground.

"Tris, Caleb," she says, wearing a grin bigger than any one I've seen her wear for the past week. "Guess what?" Without waiting for an answer, she continues. "We found another wild human group with a soul with them!"

I don't know if I should be more startled that another human group has been found or that they have a soul living with them.

I put my hand on Caleb's shoulder before he can starting rattling off questions as Christina explains, "You know how Wanda and Ian and Melanie and Jared and Uriah and a bunch of others were off on a raid? They just came back. Apparently there's another human group!" She waves her hand. "Come on!"

Another human group. There's more. There's more of the most wretched, kindest, strangest kind of being in the world.

We're not alone.

I don't think my feet can carry me to the plaza fast enough.

**DA END, *TA DA***

**Thanks for reading~please review! **


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